


Just See Me

by xXdreameaterXx



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-01 03:53:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 44
Words: 62,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13286436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXdreameaterXx/pseuds/xXdreameaterXx
Summary: Clara Oswald is almost happy with her life. She loves her job, she loves her hobbies and the Doctor, her best friend, always has her back. If only her love life could go just as smoothly.What she doesn’t know: The Doctor is secretly in love with her and her failed dates are a little more than just a coincidence. Is it enough to make Clara realize that what she is looking for has been right under her nose all this time?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, I had planned to post a DW/The Hour crossover, but while I was working on the first chapters, I was suddenly hit across the head really hard with this AU idea. I asked on several social media platforms which story you'd prefer to read and the AU won. So, here we are. I hope you'll enjoy the ride :D

The Doctor plopped down in the chair with a heavy sigh and took a sip of his beer. It was just another one of those days that he wished would be over soon and sadly, those kind of days were becoming more and more frequent. He tried to think of the moment his life had become such a mess, but he just couldn't pin it down. It was just a sequence of bad decisions, one after another.

“Okay, I think it's time for you to tell me what the hell is bugging you,” the voice with the heavy Scottish accent said next to him. “Before you drink up my entire beer storage.”

The Doctor turned his head and glowered at Missy. She didn't understand. She never understood. For Missy, life was simple. She could be brutally honest and get away with it. Sometimes, the Doctor envied her for that.

“Clara is on a date,” he growled. “Again.”

Slowly, Missy shook her head, an expression of weariness on her face. “You and that girl,” she remarked. “Have you considered telling her how you feel?”

“Yes.”

Missy raised her eyebrows at him, obviously expecting a more elaborate answer.

“And then I decided against it,” the Doctor snapped. “It would be the end of our friendship. Clara would think I'm an old pervert and never speak to me again.”

“Well, you _are_ an old pervert,” Missy replied with a shrug. “A cradle-snatching, old pervert who fell in love with a 26-year old.”

“Clara is 30 now,” the Doctor argued.

“And you're as madly in love with her as you were on the first day.” 

His friend rolled her eyes impatiently and he didn't doubt for a second that, if their roles at been reversed, Missy would have made a move a long time ago, but he just couldn't. Ever since Clara had stepped into his shop four years ago, the Doctor had been in love with her, but to him, it was more than just a little crush. They shared a taste in music and books and movies, a sense of humour, a love for travelling. To him, Clara was perfect. She was his best friend and he valued that friendship over anything else in the world. He surely wouldn't ruin that just because of some silly human urge.

But the Doctor hadn't come here tonight to think about Clara, who was on a date and might bring home a man. It wasn't her first date either, far from it. Clara had tried over and over again and every single time, the Doctor had been jealous, only to feel relieved to hear when it had once again amounted to nothing. Now, her attempts to find a man merely made him sad because, in all those years, Clara hadn't even considered him once. He really didn't have a chance with her at all. At first, the Doctor had hoped that she would just see him, but by now he had realized that it was never going to happen.

“Can we talk about something else?” the Doctor asked. “I could use a distraction.”

“Fine by me,” Missy said. “You pick the topic, but I doubt we'll have very much time left.”

In response, the Doctor frowned at her. “What makes you say that?”

His friend pulled up the sleeve of her blouse and looked at her watch, wrinkling her forehead in the process. “It's 7.30. I assume Clara will ask you to rescue her from her date before 8.”

“And what makes you say that?” he asked in annoyance. The last thing he needed was false hope. At some point, one of her dates would be successful. Clara was a gorgeous, young woman, intelligent and funny – one of the men she went out with would see that. In fact, the Doctor was surprised that no one had so far.

“Because it happened the last five times,” Missy said. “But anyway, topic. Pick one.”

The Doctor decided to brush the thought about Clara aside for a moment and instead focus on Missy. After all, she was his oldest friend.

“Okay, how about you finally tell me about your mystery job?” he suggested hopefully.

Missy took a sip from her own beer before she replied. “There's nothing mysterious about my job.”

“You've had it for months and you still haven't told me what it is,” he said dryly. “If it's not a mystery, you're certainly making it one.”

“I work in an office at a desk with a computer,” his friend drawled, her boredom more than obvious. “Several times a day, a moron calls me because they forgot their password. Do you really need any more details?”

The Doctor knitted his eyebrows at her. “Wait, they let _you_ talk to customers? Do they realize it's what got you fired from your last job?”

Missy shrugged nonchalantly and it was obvious that she still hadn't developed any kind of manners when it came to customers.

“What company do you work for?” he wanted to know, but before Missy had a chance of answering his question, his mobile phone vibrated in his pocket.

The Doctor pulled it out and looked at the new message he had received.

 

_Emergency. Awkward date. Please help!_  
_Clara_

 

“So, she wants you to pick her up?”

The Doctor lifted his head and looked at the smug grin on Missy's face. How had she known? Sometimes, he thought that Missy knew Clara better than he did.

“What should I tell them if I just show up there?”

His friend made a dismissive gesture. “Tell Clara there's a problem at home. With her kids.”

“Clara doesn't have kids,” he argued.

“Yeah, but the date guy doesn't know that.”

“Right,” the Doctor concluded and rose from his seat. It occurred to him that maybe this was one of the moments where he should take a different path, one of those turning points he had considered earlier, but Clara was his friend and she needed his help, so he would just do what he always did. “I'm gonna go and save her.”

“Go get her, tiger,” Missy replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

With a sigh, the Doctor picked up his coat and turned to leave. One day, one of Clara's dates would be successful and he should just enjoy that he currently still had his best friend all to himself because that time was most definitely going to come to an end.

* * *

He was cute. Maybe not quite as attractive as he had looked in his profile picture on her dating app, but Clara wasn't as superficial as to reduce a guy to his looks alone. Who knew? Maybe he thought the same thing about her.

“So, uhm, the hobbies you listed on the app, are there really not more?” Clara asked nervously. “I can't imagine that you spend your entire day reading.”

“Well, I do go to work occasionally,” he replied with an insecure laugh. That was what bugged her more than the exaggerated profile picture. Somehow, the guy seemed uncomfortable and nervous. “But reading is my favourite pastime. I like a quiet atmosphere.”

Clara laughed. “You tell me. I'm a school teacher, I love quiet. I _live_ for quiet moments. But I also enjoy travelling a lot. My plan is to have visited every country in Europe before I turn 35.”

Her date seemed to ignore her last statement and somehow, he looked even more uncomfortable than he had before. “So, you don't like children?”

“Oh no, I like children. It's just that when there are crowds of them that it can get a bit annoying after 8 hours.”

The man cleared his throat. “But you don't have any children of your own?” he asked carefully.

“No, I don't,” Clara replied.

“Are you sure?”

Clara frowned at him in response and somehow, she felt like this date was getting weirder by the second. For some reason she couldn't quite fathom, it always happened. She found a nice guy online, they got along well, but as soon as they met, things turned awkward. Maybe Clara just had a way of picking the weird ones.

“I'm pretty sure,” she said reluctantly. “I think I would have noticed.”

“It's just that-” the man said, but then broke off mid-sentence. “Ah, nevermind. Who do you travel with?”

The smile returned to Clara's face once again even though she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was bothering him. At least the topic had shifted to something she felt passionate about. “I have a friend that I travel with,” she explained and a somehow, she couldn't keep herself from smiling. It wasn't just _a_ friend. It was her best friend, her rock, her soulmate. “He knows so many things about so many places. It's always an adventure to go on a trip with him.”

“And I suppose he's paying for everything,” her date said sharply and there was a sudden hostility in his voice that Clara didn't really understand.

“I'm sorry?”

“Well, is he not? Your _friend_?”

The way he stressed the word _friend_ gave her the impression that he thought the Doctor was more than that, but Clara didn't have the faintest clue what had given him the idea and she didn't need to justify her friendships to a man she had never met before. But one thing was as clear as day: this date was yet another failure.

“I think I'm gonna go and powder my nose,” Clara replied gruffly and rose from her seat.

 

As soon as she had entered the bathroom, Clara pulled her phone out of her purse and typed out a message. She wasn't going to sit through any more of this awkwardness, so she texted the only person she knew who would come and pick her up on a Saturday night. The Doctor.

 

_Emergency. Awkward date. Please help!_  
_Clara_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And a big group hug for all of you who have back for the new story! Thank you for your first comments! I'm glad you're already intrigued, so let's see what happens next, shall we?

While her date was becoming increasingly more awkward, Clara kept a close eye on the door. He wouldn't leave her hanging, would he? The Doctor hadn't replied to her message, but that wasn't out of the ordinary. Besides, he had picked her up on the last five occasions and only now did Clara realize how pathetic her situation really was. She just had a talent for picking the wrong guys and relying on her friend to save her from sitting through arguments or awkward silences. One time, a man had become a little more affectionate than she would have liked and the Doctor had repaid him with a punch in the face. In fact, he had made the effort of driving back to the restaurant just to do that even though they had already been in the car for five minutes. Clara believed that it was the only time she had ever seen him really furious.

“Clara, can I ask you a question?” the guy asked and he sounded slightly mad even though she had no idea why he was the one to feel affronted when she had been on the receiving end of weird questions and insinuations. “Why are you using a dating website?”

Clara frowned at him in response. “My friend recommended it to me. That's how she met her boyfriend,” she replied sharply.

Her date scoffed. “Not exactly what I meant.”

She didn't bother asking him what he had meant because at that moment, Clara's eyes wandered back to the front door and she watched the Doctor step into the restaurant. Her heart immediately felt a little lighter at the familiar sight of his messy, silver hair and velvet coat. Thank God he was here.

“Hello Clara,” he greeted her breathlessly as soon as he had reached their table.

“Oh, uhm, hey,” she replied, pretending to be very surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?”

Clara glanced towards her date, granting him an apologetic smile even though she wasn't actually sorry at all. Yet he only glared at her in response.

Next to her, the Doctor cleared her throat. “I'm terribly sorry to disturb your date, but I'm afraid there's a problem with the kids.”

“The kids?” she asked, frowning at him. Then it dawned on her. 

He had come up with several excuses to rescue her from the previous dates. Sadly, this time, he had picked an excuse that would most definitely make her look like a liar when she had told her date that she didn't have kids only twenty minutes ago. Oh well, it wasn't as if she was ever going to see him again.

“Yeah,” the Doctor replied, gritting his teeth. He was making it up as he went. “Joey developed a light fever and I put him to bed, but then, uhm, Maggie started feeling unwell, too. She wouldn't stop crying. I think you need to come home.”

The table shook when her date rose to his feet with a start.

“Is something wrong?” Clara asked innocently.

“Clara, I get that you don't want to advertise your entire life online, but lying to me when I specifically asked whether you had children is taking it a bit too far for my taste,” he spat and reached for his jacket. “Have a nice evening with your sugar daddy.”

“My _what_?!”

Clara never received an answer because, a few moments later, her date darted out of the front door.

She scoffed in response. “Unbelievable,” Clara uttered. “And he didn't even pay for the drinks.”

“I could cover that,” the Doctor suggested carefully. “Or we could stay and eat something.”

“No, thanks,” she replied and searched her purse for a tenner that she left on the table before she rose from her seat as well. When she looked at the Doctor, however, her anger faded a little and she granted him a smile. “I just wanna get the hell out of here.”

The Doctor smiled at her in return and Clara thought that maybe the evening was going to get a little better after all.

 

They left the restaurant together and walked through the streets for a while before the Doctor admitted that he was feeling a little hungry. A small booth around the corner was still selling chips and the Doctor stopped and bought a portion for each of them. For a few minutes, they just ate in silence as they continued their walk.

“Thanks for picking me up,” Clara said eventually. “And for the chips.”

“Don't mention it,” he replied. “He seemed like an arse, though not quite as much as the guy who tried to feel you up.”

“Also thanks for reminding me that I really suck at dating,” she remarked dryly.

“Sorry.”

“It's true though,” Clara growled. “I don't even know what I'm doing wrong. All those guys seemed perfectly nice online. We exchanged messages for weeks, discovered that we had a lot in common, but as soon as I meet them, things just go wrong. Is every man out there an arsehole except for you?”

The Doctor cleared his throat, but he didn't reply to her comment. Clara sighed. She really had the worst of luck when it came to men.

“I thought that he would be different,” she explained. “We like the same books and movies and he was really sweet in his messages, but tonight he was just. . . weird. He asked if I was sure I didn't have kids as if I'd overlook a toddler crawling around my flat and when we talked about travelling and I mentioned you, he immediately assumed that you were paying for it, which might explain the sugar daddy remark at the end but I really don't know how he got the idea.”

“You, uhm,” the Doctor paused. “You talked about me?”

“Yeah, of course,” Clara replied as if it should have been obvious. It was obvious, wasn't it? “You're my best friend. You're a big part of my life. Why wouldn't I talk about that?”

She turned to look at him, but Clara soon noticed that his eyes were fixed on the chips in his hands. Before they turned cold, she decided to do the same thing but realized that her appetite had faded.

“I really don't know what to do anymore,” she said and took a deep breath. “I can't meet anyone at work because most of the people I interact with there are underaged. I hate going to clubs and bars and since Amy got together with Rory I feel like a third wheel anyway and this online dating thing is really not working out for me either.”

“Uhm, maybe. . . maybe you should take a break from. . . dating for a bit,” he suggested carefully. “Wait for the right guy to find you.”

“I'm tired of waiting,” Clara complained loudly. She stopped and turned to look at him. “Doctor, seriously, am I that undesirable?”

The Doctor came to a halt as well, but he merely glanced at her before averting his eyes again. “Well, your face is a bit wide, but apart from that it's not too bad.”

“Wow, you really know how to cheer a woman up,” she remarked, the sarcasm audible in her voice – even to him.

“Clara, there's nothing wrong with you. These guys are just pudding brains who don't know what they're missing,” he said a little harshly. But when he finally looked at her again, the Doctor cracked a smile. “Now, you mentioned cheering up.”

Clara sighed and dropped her shoulders. “I'm open to any suggestions. Except maybe for spontaneous trips abroad because I have school on Monday.”

“Damn, I need to get a refund for those plane tickets to Budapest.”

She laughed at him for that. That was one of the best things about the Doctor. No matter how bad it was, somehow, he always managed to make her laugh and she was sure that by the end of the evening, she would have forgotten all about the horrible date. Being with the Doctor always made her feel good.

“We've been to Budapest,” she said with a shrug. “Two years ago.”

“Alright. How about a movie instead?” he suggested.

Clara inhaled deeply and finally smiled at him in earnest. “Movie sounds like a great idea.”

When the Doctor offered her his arm, Clara took it without hesitation. Maybe she was a little overdressed for the cinema, but right now, she didn't actually care about it. Nothing really mattered much when she was with the Doctor. Some days, she wondered what she had done to deserve him.

“I don't deserve a friend like you,” she said thoughtfully.

The Doctor chuckled. “I'm really sorry, Clara, but I'm exactly what you deserve.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your sweet, sweet comments :) Wanna see how this amazing friendship started? Well, let's have a look!

**4 Years Ago**

When the little bell above his shop door rang, the Doctor looked up and instantly silenced the strings of the guitar he had been playing out of boredom. No customer had come in all day and, if the was completely honest, no customer had been so pretty in weeks. For a moment, he completely forgot to what he was supposed to say until he remembered the word.

“Hello,” the Doctor greeted the woman and realized that his voice sounded a little husky. Quickly, he cleared his throat. “How can I help you?”

The young woman smiled at him. She really was extremely pretty with a cute nose and large, dark eyes. “Don't stop playing on my account,” she told him. “I like music.”

“Well, I suppose you wouldn't be here if you didn't,” he replied.

The tiniest frown appeared on the woman's forehead and to underline his statement, the Doctor let his gaze wander around the room that was filled with records of all kinds.

“Oh, right,” the woman chuckled. “Although I'm not here for myself. I'm looking for a present.”

“I could assist you with the search?” the Doctor suggested hopefully. “My system is kind of. . . well, chaotic.”

He uttered a nervous laugh and flashed a smile in her direction and to his delight, the woman smiled back.

“No, you keep playing,” she told him sincerely. “I'll shout when I need help.”

As the woman ventured deeper into his record shop, the Doctor couldn't help but follow her with his gaze for a moment. His usual clientele were middle-aged men and hipsters, so it was a nice change to see a pretty woman here. No matter how hard he tried, the Doctor just couldn't take his eyes off her even though she had her back turned towards him as she browsed through the shelves.

“I still can't hear music,” she reminded him after a while, not even looking at him while she did.

The Doctor smiled. Beautiful and a little bossy. Somehow, he hoped she would come back more than once – but only if he entertained her with a song. As he picked his guitar back up, his mind suddenly felt empty and it was as if he had forgotten every song he had ever learned. There was just nothing there. Nothing but his thoughts about the pretty woman. And then it hit him. As he started to play the opening riff of _Pretty Woman_ , she briefly turned around and granted him a smile before she continued her search.

He played another song after that and then another and by the time he had finished _Blue Hotel_ , the woman had disappeared in the back of the shop. She was so short that the shelves hid her completely. Eventually, his curiosity won over and he set the guitar down to follow her. The Doctor found her with two records in her hand and a thoughtful look on her face.

“Are you sure I can't help you with anything?” he asked once again.

His customer looked at him. “I'm looking for a birthday present for my dad. I usually give him a book, but he's a slow reader and the book he got for Christmas was quite a big one and he isn't done with it yet. I saw this shop on my way home and thought _why not_ ,” she explained with a shrug.

“Well, if you ask me, a vinyl is as good a present as a book,” the Doctor told her. “What kind of music is your father into?”

“He likes a bit of everything, really. And his collection is still quite small cause he only recently bought a record player.”

The Doctor's eyes dropped to the records she was holding. An album by the Rolling Stones and one by Bob Dylan.

“Might I make a suggestion?” he asked carefully.

The woman nodded.

“Bob Dylan is an excellent choice, but I wouldn't start with a Greatest Hits one.”

To his surprise, she started to laugh. “Isn't that exactly where you should start? I mean, you get all the good songs in one go.”

The Doctor spun around on his heels and headed for the next corridor. He knew that the album was here somewhere, he just had to find it. Quickly, he flipped through the records until the woman had caught up with him.

“You really don't have a system, do you?” she asked, chuckling.

“I do,” he replied while he continued his search. Eventually, he spotted the album he had been looking for and held it out to the woman. She took it from him with a smile.

“Really? How are they sorted then?”

“They're not,” the Doctor said, shrugging. “I just put them where they fit and try to remember where I left them. It's perfect for browsing.”

The woman laughed once again, but somehow he felt like it was in approval as well as amusement. “I think I like this shop.”

The Doctor grinned at her. “You should come here more often then,” he replied before he could stop himself. Damn, he had been too bold, hadn't he?

“I don't own a record player, but I've got this album on Spotify,” she said and nodded towards the album he had handed her. “ _Blonde on Blonde_. I love it.”

“Spotify?” he asked, frowning.

“It's an app,” she explained. “For music.”

The Doctor snorted in reply, laughing. “I'm sorry, but you've got to leave right now. Blasphemy is forbidden in here.”

“Oh, really? Is that how paying customers are treated here?” she chuckled.

“You haven't paid yet,” the Doctor argued.

Suddenly, there was a mischievous grin on the woman's face and the Doctor wasn't quite sure where it had come from and what it meant. The only thing he knew was that he liked the look of it a lot. He liked _her_ a lot.

“I tell you what, you convince me that vinyls are better than my app that can play any song that I like within seconds and I'll buy a record player.”

“Deal,” he replied instantly and took the record back from her. Without waiting for her reaction, the Doctor made his way back to the front desk behind which he kept a player. He opened the lid and slid the second-hand record out of its sleeve before setting it down and lowering the needle. A few seconds later, Bob Dylan's music started to play. He pulled up a stool for the woman to sit down.

“Sit down and witness the magic of vinyls,” he said and gestured towards the stool.

She plopped down, a smile on her face. “Alright, let's see what you've got.”

 

By the time they had reached _Just Like A Woman_ , both of them held an almost empty cup of coffee in their hands and the Doctor had learned quite a lot about her. Her name was Clara and she was an English teacher at a nearby school with a love for books and travelling and a marvellous sense of humour. To sum it all up: the Doctor had learned that she was perfect, about twenty years too young for him and completely out of his league.

“You still haven't answered my question,” Clara teased him with a smile.

He sighed. “Just call me the Doctor, okay? Everyone does.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm a weirdo with a weird second-hand record shop, a weird haircut and a weird nickname,” he said defensively, raising his hands in a surrendering gesture.

Clara pouted at him for a moment. “I can accept that.”

When the record stopped, it seemed that his heart did as well. The Doctor had thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with Clara and he didn't really want to let her go at all. However, when he looked into his coffee cup, he realized that it was empty as well.

“Well, I suppose I should get going,” Clara reasoned and set her own mug down on the desk as she rose to her feet. “Thank you for the lovely, extensive introduction to classic vinyls.”

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. “Did it work?” he asked hopefully.

Clara hesitated for a moment, but eventually, a smile appeared on her lips. “Possibly,” she said, now grinning broadly. “Alright, just give me a couple of days to get my hands on a record player and I'll be back to start my collection.”

“Glad I could convince you,” the Doctor replied and he honestly meant it. Clara would come back. That was all he wanted. Suddenly, just for a small moment, he felt like the luckiest man on earth.

“I'll take the Bob Dylan one right now though cause dad's birthday is tomorrow,” she said. “You don't offer gift wrapping, do you?”

“I'm afraid when it comes to that, I'm as gifted as a blind t-rex.”

Clara laughed in response and the Doctor's heart skipped a little beat. He could make her laugh. She would come back. Yes, for one small moment, everything was perfect.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very happy that you all liked and enjoyed the flashback of their first meeting :) Thank you all so much for the sweet comments - and I believe that this chapter might answer some of your questions. Let's have a look.

“So, how was the date?”

Clara glowered at her friend Amy while she took the cup of tea that was offered to her and blew the air out between his teeth. The truth was, she had almost forgotten about yesterday's disaster until her friend had brought it up.

“Oh God, that bad?” Amy asked as she sank down on the sofa next to Clara and then chuckled to herself. “What do you do to these men that all your dates turn into disasters?”

“Trust me, I would love to know,” Clara growled and took a sip of her drink. When she turned to look at her friend, Amy had stopped laughing and she told her everything that had gone wrong during last night's date, including the fact that he had called the Doctor her sugar daddy.

Amy frowned at her in response. “Wow, okay, that's something else,” she remarked. “How many dates have you had in the previous months?”

Clara groaned loudly. “Six,” she grumbled in reply. “Are you asking to remind me that I suck at dating and have a talent for picking the weird guys?”

Her friend granted her a compassionate smile. “You really have though,” she argued. “I mean, this guy thought you had a sugar daddy, the last one hardly spoke a word to you, the one before that groped you and before that, uhm, what was before that?”

“He talked in Klingon,” Clara said dryly. “He was under the impression that I was a Trekkie and got weird when I said I wasn't.”

To her dismay, Amy started to laugh again. If it had happened to any other person, Clara probably would have found it very amusing as well, but as it was, she was growing really tired of failed dates. Why couldn't she find a decent man? Why was she so unlucky in love that she managed to pick exactly the wrong guys? Clara was a beautiful and smart woman and she was well aware of that. Of course, she had her quirks as well, but who didn't? Why was she the only one who couldn't find a match? That was all Clara really wanted, all that was missing from her life. A man, a partner, a companion to share it with. He had to be out there somewhere.

“And you're really using the same app I used to meet Rory?” her friend wanted to know.

“MatchMaker, yeah,” Clara replied grumpily. “But it seems you've snagged the only decent guy on there.”

Suddenly, Amy held her hand out to her. “Give me your phone,” she demanded.

“What? Why?”

“Cause I'm gonna find you a decent one, now give it,” Amy said impatiently, waving her hand until Clara finally retrieved her phone from her pocket and handed it to her friend.

She waited as Amy opened the app and started to flip through newly registered users. Out of the corner of her eye, Clara spotted one or two cute ones, but Amy ignored them and since she had had a lot of bad luck in that area lately, Clara decided to leave it to her best friend to choose someone. If she didn't like her choice, she wouldn't have to meet him.

“Mhhh, this one sounds cute, but he has a kid,” Amy remarked.

Clara wrinkled her nose. “I don't mind kids, but can we start with something easier?”

“Alright, let's see what else we've got.”

It took a couple more minutes during which Clara continued to sip her tea and wait for her friend to find her a match. Then finally, Amy's eyes lit up.

“Okay, I think I found one,” she announced and when she turned towards Clara, she was grinning broadly.

“Well, show me!”

“What do you think about Italian food?” Amy wanted to know.

“Love it. Why?” Clara raised her eyebrows in suspicion.

Amy continued to grin at her. “Because this guy is a chef in an Italian restaurant. He's got Italian roots and loves to spend his holidays in his mother's hometown on the Italian coast.”

“Mh,” Clara hummed. “Not bad. Go on.”

“He is 36 and his hobbies include reading and photography and on Fridays, he goes bowling with his friends,” Amy said.

“Not dirty photography, is it?” she asked, frowning.

Her friend rolled her eyes. “Honestly, if your hobby was to take nude photos, would you put that on a dating app?”

“Probably not. Go on,” she said.

Finally, Amy turned the phone around and showed Clara the man's profile picture and she could immediately see the Italian roots her friend had talked about. The guy in the photo had short, dark hair and dark eyes, and his skin was nicely tanned by the Italian summer sun. His handsome features were framed by a neatly trimmed beard and Clara couldn't help but smile. Her friend had chosen well.

“Your children would look gorgeous,” Amy said.

Yet Clara wasn't entirely convinced. The guy seemed perfect, but she had thought that about most of the men she had gone out with recently – before they had turned out to be either jerks or awkward. Something wasn't quite right.

“Why is a handsome, Italian chef like him using a dating app?” Clara wanted to know. “There's gotta be something wrong if he can't meet a woman elsewhere.”

Her friend shot her a dark glance. “Why is a woman like you using a dating app?”

Clara sighed. “Good point,” she admitted. “Alright. I guess it can't hurt to send him a message.”

Now, Amy's face turned into a grin. “Already did. If this works out, I'll definitely be the bridesmaid.”

“Definitely,” Clara confirmed. “Let's see what he's like, but I'm afraid after the recent failures, my hopes are kinda low.”

“How did you get out of your date by the way?” Amy wanted to know and lifted her own mug to drink.

Clara sighed. “The Doctor saved me,” she explained. “I'm so glad he came. He bought me chips and took me to the cinema, so the evening didn't end as bad as it started. We watched a really cool movie.”

“That was sweet of him,” her friend remarked.

“Yeah,” Clara replied and a smile spread across her face. The Doctor really was the sweetest man she had ever met even though his compliments still had some room for improvement. “I wish more men were like him, you know? Kind and funny and absolutely trustworthy and reliable.”

“If he's so perfect, why aren't you dating him?”

Clara turned her head and looked at her friend for a long moment, trying to determine whether Amy had just made a joke. However, the longer she stared at her face, the more obvious it became that she had been serious. From one moment to the next, Clara burst into laughter.

“What's so funny?” Amy demanded to know, now chuckling along with her. “I mean it. Why aren't you dating him? He's not bad looking.”

Once her laughter had subsided, Clara smiled at her friend. “He's not. He's really good looking, but he's the Doctor.”

“So?”

“So,” she said, smiling, “he's not into me that way.”

“How would you know? Have you ever talked about it?” Amy asked curiously.

“We don't have to,” Clara explained. “We've known each other for four years, we're best friends, we're travel companions, we love hanging out. Believe me, if there was something there, I would have noticed.”

Clara laughed once again at the mere idea of it. The Doctor. It was ridiculous.

“Besides, it took him a year to hug me. I don't want to wait five years for a kiss,” she argued.

To her surprise, her friend shrugged. “Well, you've already waited four, so-”

“Stop it,” Clara said with a smile. “The Doctor is cute and I love him, but I don't think a romance would work for either of us.”

“Alright,” Amy eventually agreed. “Well, there's always Jason the Italian chef.”

“Exactly,” she said and checked the app on her phone. He hadn't seen the message yet, but Clara felt confident that it would only be a matter of time until he replied. And she would be waiting for that moment.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, if you're already screaming at Clara for being blind, I fear for your sanity during the next 40 chapters :D Thank you so much for the comments!

**4 Years Ago**

When the door to his shop burst open, the Doctor hardly had time to brace himself before his heart skipped another beat as he looked at the bright smile on Clara Oswald's face. Once again, he completely forgot what to say as she skipped towards his desk and shoved a large cup of coffee in front of him.

“Brought coffee,” she announced happily.

“Thanks,” he eventually managed to say. _Quick, Doctor, think of something nice to say to her._ “Uhm, you look lovely today. Have you had a wash?”

Clara scowled at him playfully and he knew instantly that that was a compliment he should better cross off the list. He had never been good at compliments or flirting, but it seemed that he was even worse than usual when it came to Clara. The Doctor had known her for months and he still started babbling like an idiot whenever she showed up. Luckily for him, the nervousness ceased as soon as they started talking about something they had in common. He counted that as a success.

“We really need to work on your compliments, you know?” Clara said. “What do you do if a gorgeous woman walks in here and you want to get her number?”

The Doctor cleared his throat. “I, uhm, I suppose I'll just babble like an idiot and hope she finds it endearing.”

She shrugged in response. “Well, it worked on me. At least I keep buying your records,” she replied and pulled up her usual stool to sit next to him. “I read the book you recommended. It was weird, but in a good way.”

He smiled at her. Somehow, the Doctor still couldn't quite believe that she kept coming back to his shop at least once a week and he had sort of struck up a friendship with her. He wasn't sure how it had started, but after discovering that they had the same taste in music, they had moved on to books, movies and after that, other hobbies that they shared. The Doctor had quickly come to the conclusion that Clara was perfect for him in every single way, that talking to her felt so easy once he had brushed the nervousness aside, that he was falling in love.

The last part was what made him sad. If Clara hadn't been born too late, if he wasn't such an idiot when it came to women, she would have been the girl of his dreams, but he wasn't any less grateful for her friendship.

“I'm glad you liked it,” he said and suddenly remembered something. “Oh, before I forget, I brought something for you.”

The Doctor leaned back and reached under his desk to retrieve an old photo album that he had brought down to the shop just for Clara. A while ago, she had told him about her plan to travel to every country in Europe before her 35th birthday, but she had yet to start travelling. He hoped that this album would spur her wanderlust.

“What is this?” she asked as he handed her the album.

The Doctor watched while Clara carefully opened the first page.

“It's photos from my holiday in Italy,” he explained. “I'm sorry, they're obviously a bit older.”

Clara giggled when she turned the page and spotted a photo of him in front of the leaning tower of Pisa.

“Oh my God, you look so young. When was that?”

“1985,” he said.

Still, she chuckled. “Look at that mop on your head,” Clara remarked, the amusement audible in her voice. Then she lifted the album and her eyes wandered back and forth between him and the old photograph. Somehow, it made him feel a little insecure. “Nah, I think I prefer you grey.”

“It was the 80s,” the Doctor said, a hurtful tone in his voice. “Everyone had hair like that.”

“Well, she obviously did,” Clara chuckled and pointed at the woman in the next photo. “Who is she? Your old girlfriend?”

“Uhm, that's River,” he explained. “My wife.”

Clara's head shot up in an instant. “You never told me you were married.”

“I'm not. She passed away a long time ago.”

For a small moment, Clara's features froze. “I'm sorry,” she said sincerely. “I didn't know.”

“Let's focus on Rome, shall we?” the Doctor suggested hopefully. He hated talking about the past, at least the part that involved the people he had lost. However, the amazing holiday in Italy was something he would very much like to talk about, especially with Clara. She was too young to sit at home and miss out on all the wonders the world had to offer.  
As they browsed through the book, the Doctor explained it all to her, the parts of the Vatican he had seen, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps and he watched as Clara's eyes grew wider at the collection of old photographs he had taken. She had to go and see it with her own eyes. He had to convince her that it was worth it. 

“I travelled a lot in my younger days,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I have to admit, I miss it a little.”

Clara turned her head and frowned at him. “You're in your 50s. You're not too old to travel, you know?”

He scoffed. “Yeah, but it's not so much fun on your own. Visiting foreign countries and cities is just so much better when you have someone to share it with, someone to show it to, to talk to about it.”

“What if-,” Clara paused and shrugged softly. “What if you travelled with someone? You know, like a travelling companion? A friend?”

The Doctor scoffed. “The only friend I have is Missy and I don't believe I'd survive an entire weekend with her.”

The expression that appeared on her face was unreadable to him. It was somewhere between a frown and a scowl and he had no idea what it meant. Then, a soft punch made him yelp.

“I was talking about myself, idiot,” Clara complained. “You could travel with me.”

For a moment, the Doctor had no idea what to say. Travelling with Clara? Showing her Rome and Madrid and Paris and Oslo? He would love that. He could take her to the little restaurant in Barcelona if that still existed and talk about the paintings in the Louvre. Surely Clara was at least a little bit interested in art. There were so many things she needed to see.

“I also don't wanna travel alone and it would be cool to go with someone who's actually been there before,” she said. “Saves the guide.”

Still, the Doctor wasn't entirely convinced. Not because he had doubts, but what if Clara did? “Are you sure you want to travel with me? I can be a bit of a nuisance.”

Clara made a dismissive gesture. “So can I,” she argued. “Besides, we could start with something easy.”

“What do you have in mind?” he asked carefully.

“I've never been to Bath,” Clara admitted. “And they offer day trips. If that works, we can try a weekend.”

Slowly, a smile spread across the Doctor's face and his heart started to beat a little faster. Was it really happening or was he caught up in one of his daydreams? Right now, he couldn't really tell.

“So, what do you say?” she asked him and there was a twinkling of excitement in her eyes that he simply couldn't resist even if he had wanted to. “Fancy a trip to Bath?”

His smile turned into a grin. “I'd say Bath is an excellent idea.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the sweet comments :) And yep, you've rightly assessed that it's going to be a slow burner - but in a good way, I hope.

Clara sank deeper into the bathtub and sighed happily as the warm water engulfed her body. Her year seven kids had been particularly unruly today, so Clara decided to dedicate her afternoon to treating herself – starting with a nice, long bath. And then her phone vibrated next to her tub.

With a groan, Clara reached for the device, but her annoyance faded as soon as she saw the message that had popped up on her screen. Jason the Italian chef had finally replied. A big grin spread across her face as she opened the app.

**Jace5000**  
_Hello Clara,_  
_I'm sorry it took me a while to reply. I'm new to this and still trying to figure out how this app works. How are you?_

Clara smiled at her phone before she typed out a reply.

**ClaraOswald86**  
_The rules are pretty simple. Just reply to the nice girls and ignore the mean ones ;) I'm very well, just a little tired from trying to reign in twenty 13-year-olds. How was your day?_  
_Did you cook anything tasty?_

His reply was almost instant.

**Jace5000**  
_I have yet to go to work. I'm on the late shift this week, but on today's menu is a mushroom risotto. You're a teacher, right? That must be a wonderful job – at least as long as they behave._

They had only exchanged a few messages, but Clara had already decided that she liked him. He was good-looking, he could cook, seemed nice and instead of just talking about himself like some other guys she had met online, he asked about her day as well. Clara was determined to meet him already.

**ClaraOswald86**  
_It is a wonderful job and most of the time, they behave. Today. . . not so much. One of my students told me that my face was too wide :/_  
_Mushroom risotto, yeah? Don't tempt me to have dinner at your restaurant because right now I'm quite hungry and I'm afraid I'm not much of a cook._

**Jace5000**  
_I could give you the recipe if you like? Or show you how it's made? It's not as difficult as it sounds. As for your face, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about. I think you're very pretty._

Her heart skipped a beat when she read his last message. Jason had said that he found her pretty and he was asking her out on a date. Clara instantly set out to type a reply, yet the doorbell interrupted her before she had a chance.

* * *

The Doctor shifted his weight from one foot to the other, waiting impatiently for Clara to open the door. He had a surprise for her and he couldn't wait to give her the good news. Then his phone buzzed in his pocket. The Doctor pulled it out and read Clara's message.

_If that is you in front of my door, come in. I'm in the tub and not eager to leave right now._  
_Clara_

The Doctor frowned at the display of his phone.

_How?_  
_The Doctor_

_Key?_  
_Clara_

Sometimes, he really was a little thick and he wanted to smack his forehead when he remembered the key Clara had given him so he could water her plants while she had been staying with her family over Christmas and New Year's Eve. He had forgotten about the plants as well until two days before her return, but luckily for him, they had survived and Clara had never found out.

The Doctor reached into his pocket and drew out the keys, balancing the food he had brought in the other hand before he stepped into Clara's flat. Whenever he came here, the Doctor was instantly overwhelmed by an air of warmth and homeliness. He just loved her little apartment in all its unorganized glory because it reminded him so much of Clara. It was as if every piece of furniture, every little knick-knack was a part of her, telling the story of her life. There was her favourite Jane Austen novel on the coffee table next to an empty teacup, the little figurine she had bought on their holiday in Rome and the shelf they had bought together at IKEA last year. The Doctor was still trying to figure out why on earth she had needed his help for that, but he guessed that the true reason for his presence there had been to carry all the other stuff she hadn't actually planned on buying.

“Doctor?! Where are you?!” Clara's voice came from the bathroom.

He spun around and walked back into the hall. “I'm here! I'll just wait until you've finished. Shall I make a cup of coffee?”

“I like the sound of that!”

The Doctor continued along the hall and entered Clara's kitchen which was small and crammed, but no less homely than the rest of her place. He switched on the coffee maker and waited for the dark brew to fill the room with its marvellous scent.

“Is there a problem?!” Clara called from the bathroom.

“No! Why do you think that?!”

“Well, come in if you're finished!”

The Doctor froze in an instant. She couldn't possibly have meant it like that, could she?

“Uhm, into the bathroom?!” he asked, just to be sure.

“That's where I currently am!” she replied. “Please, I'm tired of shouting and I assume so are my neighbours.”

The Doctor picked up the mugs and the small package he had brought from the bakery and made his way towards the bathroom door. However, once he had reached it, he came to a halt. Did Clara really want him to come in?

“Are you sure you want me to come inside? I mean, you're in the tub.”

He couldn't be entirely sure, but he thought he heard her utter a groan on the other side of the door. “Doctor, I know you're uncomfortable with nudity, but I promise my body is covered with bubbles. I won't blind you.”

It wasn't so much that he was uncomfortable with nudity in general, but whenever he saw Clara in a little less than her normal everyday clothes, he found himself conflicted. He wanted to look and he knew he shouldn't want it, so he usually resorted to staring at a safe spot on the wall or the floor, prompting Clara to assume he had a problem with nudity when really, he was torn between really wanting to look and trying to be a gentleman.

Reluctantly, the Doctor stepped inside and to his relief, he discovered that Clara had told him the truth. The only things sticking out of the bubbles were her head and feet and he quickly went ahead to set down the mugs and package.

“Thank you,” Clara said sincerely and then nodded towards the rim of the tub. “Sit down.”

The Doctor sank down to sit on the rim and sipped his coffee. Even though the bubbles seemed quite safe, he decided that the coffee mug was safer still.

“You went to the bakery?” she asked and when the Doctor heard a splashing sound, he watched her unfold the paper wrapping out of the corner of his eye. “Okay, I have no idea what this is, but it smells amazing.”

Finally, the Doctor turned to look at her and smiled. “I've actually got a little surprise for you and that's part of it.”

A tiny frown lined her pretty face. “What's the surprise?”

His smiled turned into a grin. “Well, I've been looking around online for holiday offers and I found a really good one for a city we haven't been to. Four days during the Summer holidays.”

Her face lit up in an instant. “Sounds like an excellent plan. Where will we go?” she asked excitedly.

The Doctor chuckled. “You have to guess. That's why I brought these,” he said and nodded towards the baked goods. “The recipe is from the country we're going to visit and the city is the capital of it.”

He had been to no less than eight different bakeries before he had found one that sold canelés and he was sure that Clara would love them. He certainly did.

“Alright,” Clara remarked and reached for one of the little cakes. She lifted it to her mouth and took a careful bite. “ _Mhhhhh._ ”

“Good?” he asked hopefully.

“Extremely good,” she replied, still chewing. “I taste vanilla. And rum. This is excellent. I definitely wanna go where they make these things, though I'm afraid I have no idea where that is.”

“Okay, one more hint. The cake thing you're eating is called a canelé.”

Clara's eyes widened in a matter of seconds as the realisation was beginning to dawn on her and she put the little cake down in an instant. “We're going to Paris?!”  
The Doctor grinned at her when he saw the excitement on Clara's face. He loved that look on her.

“I would hug you right now but-,” she broke off and looked down at herself, “slightly wet and naked.”

He smiled to himself, that sad, slightly defeated smile. “I'll take a rain check.”

“Good, cause I'll definitely hug you later,” she replied and leaned back into the tub, still smiling happily.

The Doctor looked at her for a moment and couldn't help but think that he loved her. Yet maybe it was time to stop thinking about the things he couldn't have and enjoy what he did have with Clara – a wonderful friendship that, sadly, would never turn into more.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for your comments :D Let's see how it goes for our idiots, shall we?

After a week of chatting online, Clara had decided that she wanted to wait no longer. Jason the Italian chef was charming, intelligent and had a sense of humour. Yet as tempting as the offer to teach her how to cook seemed, Clara thought that she wanted to meet him on neutral ground first. That was how she found herself in the bowling alley on a Friday night, surrounded by Jason and a group of his friends. And she was enjoying herself.

“Yes! Strike!” Clara exclaimed victoriously and threw her hands in the air. She hadn't been bowling for years and she was quite surprised that she still knew how to do it – and that she was good.

“As happy as we are that Jason finally has a date,” one woman from the other team who had introduced herself as Sarah said to her with a wink, “I think at least my team agrees that he should have found someone not quite as good at bowling.”

“I think this is just beginner's luck,” Clara argued with a shrug.

“Hey, how's it going?”

Clara turned around when she heard Jason's voice and saw that he was approaching them, a shy smile on his face. They had only been here an hour, but Clara could already tell that this date wouldn't be their last. Jason was sweet and attentive, but there wasn't much time to actually talk, so they would definitely have to sit down at a nice restaurant table to make up for that – hopefully sooner rather than later.

“Are you having fun?” he asked her sincerely.

Clara granted him a smile. “Yes,” she confirmed. “The bowling alley was a lovely idea.”

“Not for the losing team,” Sarah remarked. “I'm gonna head to the loo. Do you want to come?”

Even though she didn't actually need to use the loo, Clara decided that it couldn't hurt to check her hair and makeup, so she followed Jason's friend to the ladies' room. However, once the door closed behind them, Sarah didn't really seem eager to step into one of the toilet stalls. Suddenly, Clara found herself becoming a little wary, yet the woman's kind smile quickly put her at ease.

“So,” she said after a moment, “I thought you might want to have a little girl talk.”

“About what?” Clara asked, giggling a little nervously.

“About Jason, of course,” Sarah said. “I'm his best friend's wife, so I've known him for a long time. In fact, I was the one who encouraged him to try online dating.”

“Alright,” she replied with a sigh and leaned back against one of the sinks. “Uhm, is there anything I should know about him?”

The woman shrugged. “Not much. He's a sweet guy, but a little shy when it comes to approaching women. He had a long-term girlfriend until a year ago, but she left him for another man.”

“Poor Jason,” Clara remarked, but somehow, she got the feeling that this private meeting wasn't actually about Jason and the confirmation soon followed.

“What about you?” Sarah wanted to know. Of course, she was trying to find out what kind of person Clara was.

She shrugged. “I'm a teacher, so most people I meet are students or their mostly married parents. I don't go to clubs and bars very often because, to be honest, I prefer a book over the noise. All I'm looking for is a decent guy, but I haven't had much luck so far.”

The smile returned to Sarah's face and Clara realized that it was one of approval. “Good,” she determined after a while, then chuckled. “Can I tell you a secret? Jason was really nervous before you got here. I think he likes you.”

Clara smiled at her. “Well, I think I like him, too.”

“We should probably go back or the guys will order their food without us,” Sarah reasoned. “Unless you wanna powder your nose or something?”

Clara turned around and checked out her reflection in the mirror. “Nope, I'm good.”

 

They joined the rest of the group at the tables in the back of the room and Clara took a seat next to Jason who had obviously been waiting eagerly for her return.

“I ordered you a glass of water,” he said and then bit down on his lip. “Sorry, I wasn't sure what you liked, so I thought I should go for something neutral.”

“Water is fine for a start,” she replied happily. Jason really was attentive and considerate.

The rest of his friends were busy chatting and laughing among themselves and Jason had conveniently picked a seat at the end of the table, so it seemed that they had the opportunity to talk in private after all.

“I hope you don't think I'm boring,” he said after a moment. “I mean, the bowling alley isn't really an original spot for a first date.”

“Not at all,” Clara replied instantly. “And I really like it here. Also, your friends seem nice.”

Jason uttered a relieved sigh. “Phew, cause, to be honest, I'm actually quite boring.”

She laughed at him in response. “I don't really believe that.”

Suddenly, his features grew a little more serious and Clara wasn't quite sure what had caused it, but she could feel that the topic was about to shift. Maybe he was going to tell her that he wasn't yet over his ex, maybe it was something else. Whatever it was, Clara was sure she would find out in a matter of minutes.

“Clara, can I ask you a rather personal question?”

She frowned at him in reply. “Uhm, sure. What is it?”

He took a deep breath before he spoke and it was obvious that he was still looking for the right words, so whatever was going to come out of his mouth, it was something serious.

“I really like you,” he admitted. “I would love to see you again, but there is something I need to know first because I don't swing both ways.”

The frown on her face only deepened at his choice of words. “What do you mean? Swing both ways?”

Jason hesitated, obviously uncomfortable with the topic. “It means that I like women and. . . well, everything about them. I don't like men that way.”

Clara had no idea what he was on about, but she was starting to get the nasty feeling that this date was going to turn awkward as well. The only thing she could do was to try to clear up the misunderstanding before it got out of hand.

“Jason, I have no idea what you're talking about, so I'm gonna need a little context here.”

Again, he bit down on his lip, hesitating to come out with it. “Please, don't get me wrong. I'm really not prejudiced. I just want to know before things between us go further.”

“What do you want to know?!” Clara asked sharply, her voice coming out a little harsher than she had expected. But if this was going to turn into another failure, she had officially had it.

“Your, uhm, your sex change,” he paused. “Did it involve. . . _everything_?”

“ _My what?!_ ” Clara shouted and jumped out of her seat before she could stop herself. She had no idea what was wrong with London's men, but this one really took the biscuit.

“I'm sorry,” he spluttered instantly and rose to his feet as well. “I know it's a touchy subject.”

“ _Do I look like a man to you?!_ ”

“Well, uhm, no, but-”

“Where did you even get the idea?!” Clara demanded to know, but as he opened his mouth, she decided that she didn't actually care. It was unbelievable, all of it. “You know what, forget it!”

In a swift movement, Clara reached for her jacket and purse. No wonder Jason hadn't found a woman after his ex had left him.

“Clara, please wait,” he begged her, but she had had enough of him. In fact, she had had enough of the entire online dating experience.

“Good luck finding a girl if you suspect there to be a dick between her legs,” Clara spat and she didn't care that all of his friends were staring at her. In a matter of seconds, she would be out of here and she would never see any of them ever again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who is behind Clara's dating failures? When will she see the Doctor? Is he going to confess his feelings eventually? Questions, questions, questions and possibly some answers in here ;) Thank you so much for your comments!

For some reason, Clara had sounded deeply distressed on the phone, so the Doctor hadn't hesitated to get into the car to pick her up from her date at the bowling alley. Whatever had happened there, it must have been bad and he dreaded to think what it was. There was, however, one thing the Doctor knew for certain: if that date guy had hurt her, he would get hurt in return. Severely.

He was close to the bowling alley already when he spotted the woman on the pavement. Somehow, the Doctor thought that Clara seemed smaller than she usually did as she wrapped her coat a little more tightly around her body and wiped the tears from he face. Clara was crying and the Doctor's heart sank into his boots. He pulled up immediately.

“Is everything alright?” the Doctor asked when she stepped into his car and the panic was audible in his voice. He was already preparing himself to give that guy a good beating. “Did he hurt you?”

Clara sobbed quietly and as she shook her head, a weight dropped off his shoulders. The Doctor could deal with a broken heart and battered confidence as long as no one laid a hand on her.

“So, uhm, what. . . what happened?” he enquired carefully. “Was he mean to you?”

Clara sniffed and once again wiped the tears from her face. “I'm gonna end up alone,” she complained between sobs. “I'm gonna end up an old, lonely woman who gets eaten by her cats.”

The Doctor chuckled softly because he knew that it wasn't true. However, Clara was in need of comfort right now, so he gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Why don't you tell me what happened?”

“He thought I was a man!” Clara said and her voice had suddenly taken on an angry tone. Angry and sad – a terrible combination.

He frowned. “Why? Because of your hips? I told you, they're perfectly fi- _ow!_ ”

The Doctor yelped when Clara unexpectedly punched him in the chest.

“It's not funny!”

Clara lifted her head and looked straight at him, her dark eyes betraying all of her disappointment and fury. They seemed to bore right into him and tugged at his heart. As much as he wanted to be with Clara, the Doctor wanted her to be happy even more and right now, she was anything but that. It made no sense at all to him. Clara was so beautiful and funny and smart – how could they not see it? The idiots aside, some man should have seen it.

“I'm sorry,” he mumbled in reply right before Clara suddenly flung her arms around his chest and hugged him.

The Doctor wasn't sure what to do, he only knew that if his heart didn't stop hammering, Clara would be able to tell. Whenever she hugged him, it just felt as if he was going to melt in her embrace and he wanted to push her away and never let her go at the same time.

“It's not normal, it's not _fair_ ,” she complained and sniffed again. “No one can have this much bad luck when it comes to dating. Why am I the only one?”

“I, uhm-,” the Doctor broke off, unsure what to say.

“Why am I attracting the idiots? Why am I the only one who can't find someone?” she wanted to know. The sobbing had ceased and the fierceness had returned to her voice. “Why isn't a single decent guy interested in me?”

The Doctor wanted to look her in the eyes, he wanted to kiss her and tell her that he was right here, that he was a decent guy and interested, that he had loved her for years, but instead, he simply held her in his arms. Clara didn't see him like that. She never would.

“I'm sorry,” he said instead. “I guess there's just more pudding brains out there than you had expected.”

Clara released him from the embrace and looked straight at him, her determination visible on her face. “That's it,” she said sharply and leaned back in her seat, arms crossed in front of her chest. “I'm done with men. First thing tomorrow, I'm gonna delete this horrible app and I'm gonna do what you told me. You were right, Doctor. It's time to stop looking so hard and wait for the right guy to come along.”

Even though the Doctor should have felt some sort of relief that Clara had given up the search for a man, he knew that it was only a matter of time. He couldn't have her all to himself forever because it wasn't fair. She deserved a good man in her life, a house, a family, all of it. He only wished that he could be the one.

Then suddenly, Clara snorted and started to laugh. “And once I've found him, I'm going to write a book about all these failures. This guy actually asked me if my sex change had involved _everything_. I mean, how messed up do you have to be to ask your date such a ridiculous question?”

It was indeed messed up and ridiculous, the Doctor had to admit that. In fact, all of Clara's recent dates had ended in a strange, almost ludicrous way, prompting her to never talk to the men again. If he hadn't known better, the Doctor would have assumed that fate was trying to play right into his hand. Only he didn't believe in fate.

“Well, the night is still young, so-” he paused, eyeing Clara cautiously. “How do you feel about a cup of hot chocolate and an episode of that silly TV you've been trying to make me watch?”

Clara turned her head and eyed him suspiciously. “You're actually offering to watch a cheesy show with me? _You?_ ”

He shrugged. “I never said I wasn't gonna complain about it the whole time.”

“Or we could have a cup of hot chocolate and make plans for Paris,” she suggested. When she smiled at him, it seemed thoroughly sincere. That was definitely a start.

“Sounds even better,” he admitted and turned towards the steering wheel. Even though he knew it was bad, the Doctor couldn't help but enjoy the fact that Clara's date evenings kept turning into evenings with him.

 

They had been driving in the direction of her flat for a few minutes when Clara suddenly spoke again.

“You know, Amy's birthday is in two weeks,” she said casually.

“Good to know,” the Doctor replied. “I'll try to remember to send her a card.”

“How about you give it to her in person?”

The Doctor glanced at Clara before his eyes wandered back to the road ahead. He wasn't quite sure where this conversation was going.

“She's throwing a really cool 20s themed party and I had hoped to have a date for that occasion, but that's not going to happen.”

“It's okay,” the Doctor reassured her. “You'll be among friends. They won't care whether you have a date or not.”

Even out of the corner of his eye, he saw the mischievous smile on her face.

“Okay, I can see you smiling,” he growled. “Either stop or tell me what it's for because right now, it's worrying me a little.”

Clara chuckled in response. “You could be my date.”

The Doctor was grateful for the red light ahead because it gave him a reason to step on the brakes and look at Clara. Had she just asked him out?

“The invitation said plus one,” she explained. “It never said it couldn't be a friend.”

And just like that, the brief whiff of hope vanished into thin air.

“You know I'm not the most sociable person,” the Doctor argued.

Yet Clara continued to smile at him. It was terrible, the way she could wrap him around her little finger so easily. It just wasn't possible to say no to Clara Oswald when she looked at him like that.

“Please?” she begged him and the Doctor could have sworn that her eyes had grown even bigger.

“I don't have a costume,” he replied.

Clara shrugged. “A suit will do.”

When the traffic light switched back to green, the Doctor uttered a growl which Clara immediately interpreted as a yes, judging by her triumphant laugh. He just didn't stand a chance once Clara had set her mind on something.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the sweet comments, my dear readers :) Sorry the chapter is a bit later than usual but I got sidetracked by my new Whouffaldi mug from Randomthunk (check out her Etsy shop if you also want to get sidetracked by cute Whouffaldi things other than my fic hehe). Now, let's see what the Doctor and Clara get up to next. . .

Clara changed into her most comfortable pyjamas as soon as they had arrived at her flat. Stripping out of her dress felt as if she was leaving this horrible evening behind and she already knew that was going to get so much better when she stepped out of her bedroom and the smell of hot chocolate hung in the air. She could never thank the Doctor enough for everything he had done for her, including picking her up from her terrible dates and cheering her up.

He was still busy in the kitchen and hadn't heard her enter, so Clara sneaked up on him and wrapped her arms around him from behind. “You're the best, do you know that?”

“Uhm, Clara,” he spluttered and she had almost laughed at him. The Doctor still wasn't entirely comfortable with hugging or physical contact in general, but he knew how much it meant to her – so he let her. “Wh-what are you doing?”

“Thanking you,” she mumbled against the velvet of his coat. She had never realized before how soft it really was – and how comforting. Sadly for her, the Doctor never really took it off or otherwise she would probably have borrowed it a long time ago. He had lent her his other coat once during a windy day in Tallinn, but Clara loved the velvet one a little more.

“You know, a million pounds would be a better thank you,” the Doctor argued. “Or a Ferrari. I'd like a Ferrari.”

Clara chuckled and finally let go of him, but the smile remained on her face as he handed her a mug with steaming, hot chocolate. Somehow, he always seemed to know exactly what she needed.

“Shall we open a map of Paris and decide what we're gonna see when we go there?” she suggested.

Yet the Doctor frowned at her. “What about the Ferrari?”

A laugh escaped her lips and she gave him a playful nudge before she headed towards the living room. After covering herself in her blanket and waiting for the Doctor to settle down next to her, she opened her laptop and entered “Paris sights” on the Google website. A lot of suggestions immediately popped up.

“We have four full days, right?” she asked him.

“Almost,” he agreed. “We land at noon and leave in the early morning. In between that, enough time to see the most important bits. Look, the Louvre!”

The Doctor pointed at the screen in his excitement, but it didn't take much to convince her that the Louvre should definitely be on the list. Clara wouldn't pass up the chance to see the Mona Lisa. She reached for her notebook and started to scribble down the sights they wanted to see.

When they had started travelling together, the Doctor had made fun of her meticulous planning and insisted that being spontaneous would be better. Yet Clara was a bit of a control freak and she wasn't really comfortable leaving their holiday to chance, so in the end, they had agreed to split the holiday. Clara was allowed to plan half of the days while the Doctor could decide what to do with the rest. This time, she was allowed two whole days and it was proving to be a little tricky with so many sights to see.

“Well, we can hardly leave Paris without having visited the Eiffel Tower,” she argued and wrote it down on her list.

“That's out of the question,” the Doctor agreed.

“And Notre Dame.”

“That, too.”

Yet as Clara's eyes wandered over the list, her gaze was drawn to one particular item, but she knew exactly what the Doctor was going to say to that. He would hate this suggestion.

“So, uhm, since we'll be going to Paris,” she began carefully and immediately felt the Doctor's eyes on her.

“Why am I getting the feeling you're about to make a suggestion I won't like?”

Clara turned to look at him and bit down on her lip. “There's one thing I've wanted to see ever since I was a little kid,” she said, hardly able to contain the excitement in her voice.

The Doctor's gaze darkened as the realisation dawned on him. “No,” he growled.

“It's gonna be so much fun,” Clara promised with a broad smile and nudged him again. “Please?”

“If your idea of fun is putting Mickey Mouse ears on my head, the answer is no.”

“ _Please?_ ” she begged him again, looking at him with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. “I promise not to put Mickey Mouse ears on your head.”

The Doctor groaned. “There's going to be actors in costumes and silly rides and everything is colourful. Don't you hate it when everything is so colourful?”

Clara chuckled at him in response. “Not normally, no.”

He rolled his eyes. “Do we really have to go to Disneyland? I mean, look, there's the Arc de Triomphe!”

“Doctor, I promise, Disneyland is going to be fun. And you can decide what to do with the remaining two days. It's entirely up to you and I won't protest, no matter what it is.”

He hesitated for a long moment, but Clara could tell that his reluctance was melting under her puppy dog stare.

“Fine,” he hissed eventually and then raised his index finger as a warning. “But remember: you're not allowed to veto any plans for my two days!”

“Deal,” Clara agreed and leaned across the sofa to hug him again. Even though she couldn't see it while her face was nuzzled against his velvet coat, Clara knew that he was rolling his eyes again.

“There's a lot of hugging happening today,” he growled. “I'm not sure that was part of the deal.”

She chuckled. “You really are the best, Doctor,” Clara said sincerely and then uttered a sigh. There were no words to express how grateful she was to him, how much she loved him. Walking into his second-hand record shop four years ago had been the best thing that could have happened to her. “Can I tell you something?”

“Uhm, sure,” the Doctor replied reluctantly.

Clara inhaled deeply. “If it wasn't for you, I would have given up on men completely,” she admitted.

“Wh-what makes you say that?” he stammered and somehow, Clara got the impression that his heart was beating a little faster beneath her head.

Eventually, she released him from the hug and looked straight at him. “Because you're kind and funny and considerate in your own, quirky way. You're always there for me. And we have so much in common – the music, the books, the travels,” she told him with a smile. “So I know that men like you exist. They're just a little hard to find.”

The Doctor didn't reply for a long moment and Clara thought that there was something he wanted to say, but when he finally spoke, he pointed at the laptop again.

“You've still got the rest of day one to fill,” he told her. “Or is that all you wanna do?”

Clara was a little taken aback by the sudden shift in topic, but once she had caught up, she frowned at him. “Don't you think that the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame are enough for one day?”

The Doctor took a deep breath and when he turned his head to look at her, there was a confused look on his face. “Yeah, I suppose you're right.”

Clara granted him a smile in response. “You can surprise me on the other two days,” she said. “I promise, I won't protest.”

The trip to Paris was going to be amazing, Clara could feel it. If only it wasn't so long until then.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big group hug for all you sweet commenters!!! Want another look at the mystery of Clara's dates? Well, let's see. . .

“You are deep in the friend zone,” Missy said and rolled her eyes at him. “In fact, you're so deep in it that not even your head is sticking out any longer.”

“The what-zone?” the Doctor asked gruffly.

“The friend zone.”

He glowered at his best friend's explanation. “And what the hell is that supposed to be?”

Missy inhaled deeply and the Doctor was sure that a long explanation was to follow. “When a boy loves a girl,” she said slowly as if talking to a child, “but the girl only sees him as a friend, then the guy is in the friend zone.”

“Alright,” he replied. It made sense. “So, how do I get out of this _friend zone_ thing?”

Missy shrugged. “Have you tried asking her out on a proper date instead of, you know, picking her up from her dates with other men? A revolutionary concept, I know.”

The Doctor groaned and sank deeper into the sofa cushions. He had stopped counting the number of times he had considered asking her out. In fact, he was quite sure that every time he saw Clara, a part of him wanted nothing more than to ask that question, but he knew just how fruitless that would be. Clara was interested in pretty, young men who were like like him, not _him_ as she had stated quite plainly only a couple of days ago.

“She doesn't want me, Missy,” the Doctor admitted sadly. “And asking her out won't change that. So, how _can_ I change that? And above all, can I even influence it at all or should I just give up?”

Suddenly, there was a look on his friend's face that he couldn't quite place. It was a strange one, somewhere between mischievous and downright evil. The Doctor didn't like it.

“What's that look for?” he demanded to know. “What are you up to?”

Missy raised her hands in a surrendering gesture. “Nothing,” she replied instantly. “Why do you always assume I'm up to something when all I'm trying to do is listen to the same woes you've had for four years?”

“I'm boring you,” the Doctor realized. Well, he couldn't blame her. To his friend, it probably seemed as if his entire world revolved only around Clara and, well, to be quite honest, it did most of the time. She was his best friend.

“To be honest, you're boring me most of the time, so you might as well tell me how Clara's recent date went and how you saved her day,” Missy said casually and shrugged.

The Doctor blew the air out between his teeth. “Well, there isn't much to tell. Clara said that they really hit it off at first, but then he asked her about her sex change. Apparently, he assumed that Clara used to be a man,” he explained and then scoffed. “Honestly, I don't think even I could fuck up a date like that.”

“Huh,” she huffed in response, but he decided to ignore the undertone in her voice. “The ideas men get.”

“I don't understand it,” the Doctor said thoughtfully. “Clara is a marvellous woman and I'm not just saying that. It's strange that the men she goes out with can't see it. I mean, not that I'm complaining, but I'm confused. It feels a bit like it's just not supposed to happen and I'm not sure whether I should be glad or feel sorry for Clara because she's clearly unhappy. She deserves better than that.”

“Exactly!”

When the Doctor raised his head and looked at Missy, the expression on her face had changed once again. Now, it looked downright triumphant.

“And you're welcome,” she said, smiling at him.

After a moment of plain confusion, the Doctor cocked his eyebrow at her. “I'm sorry?” he asked. “Welcome for what?”

His friend's smile widened even more. “I wonder how many more failed dates it takes for her to realize that there's a perfectly nice idiot already waiting for her,” Missy remarked. “And by idiot I mean you.”

“I. . . I don't think I understand.”

“God, you two really deserve each other. You're both slow,” she groaned and rolled her eyes so hard that the Doctor thought they might never return to their original location. “Do you really think someone as pretty as Clara can be so unlucky when it comes to men? I bet four of the men she went out with would definitely have fucked her at least once.”

“Don't talk about her like that,” he growled, but the lewd remark aside, the Doctor could feel that something was wrong. Missy knew something. No, judging by the look on her face, she had done something. “Tell me what you know!”

Again, she rolled her eyes impatiently. “I work for MatchMaker!”

A frown appeared on the Doctor face. He still didn't get it.

“I know, we're not supposed to look at people's private conversations unless there has been a violation of our guidelines, but come on, it's your crush – how could I resist?”

The Doctor's mouth fell open. “You read Clara's private conversations with these men?!”

Missy grinned at him and nodded. “I did more than just read them.”

The scales fell from his eyes when he realized the truth behind Clara's recent dating failures and all of a sudden, it made so much more sense than it had before. Of course, Clara hadn't picked the wrong men, of course, she wasn't undesirable. She had never been unlucky in the first place.

“ _You sabotaged Clara's dates?!_ ”

“Nice job, huh?” Missy asked excitedly. “Which one did you prefer? The one where I told the guy she had a sugar daddy or the sex change one?”

“Neither!” the Doctor spat in reply and jumped up from his seat. It was outrageous. It was wrong. It was a perfectly horrible thing to do. “Missy, you can't do that! It isn't right!”

“Well, somebody had to do something,” she argued loudly. “You love that girl and you're too cowardly to tell her! I saw a chance and I took it!”

“Clara was devastated!” he shouted at her in response. “She thinks it's her fault!”

“And you were there to pick up the pieces and cheer her up,” Missy told him plainly. “She came running to you after every single one of her dates. If you're clever, you'll wait for the perfect moment and then make your move. Wait until her self-esteem hits rock bottom and-”

“Missy, stop!” the Doctor cut her off, his voice sharp. “This game has to stop and I will not be part of it! I can't believe you did that!”

In response, his friend raised her eyebrows at him.

“No,” he growled.

“You're angry, I get it,” Missy said with a sigh. “I know it's not the nicest thing to do, but I promise you, it's gonna work.”

“I don't care!” the Doctor shouted. “It's hurting Clara, so you're going to stop spreading lies about her!”

Missy snorted. “So you can watch while Clara dates other men?”

“I'm gonna do better than that,” he growled in her direction. “I'm gonna tell Clara exactly what you did!”

And with that, the Doctor spun around on his heels and headed towards the door. Once he was outside, he took a deep, long breath. It was unbelievable. The Doctor had always known that Missy was capable of a lot of mischief, but he hadn't believed that she would go so far as to use her job to spread lies and sabotage Clara's dates even if she had only done it as a favour to him. It had worked, yes, but at what price?

Yet as the Doctor made his way through the streets, he couldn't help but feel conflicted. To tell Clara the truth and betray his oldest friend? Or to keep it to himself and hope that Missy would stop? The Doctor had no idea what he should do.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your comments, guys! Now, what do you think? Will the Doctor tell Clara about Missy's activities or will he chicken out?

“Your party awaits, my lady,” the Doctor announced and held out his arm for her to take.

Clara smiled at the man in front of her and for a moment, she wasn't quite sure whether she was really facing the Doctor or his secret well-mannered twin. When she had invited him to Amy's birthday party, she had expected plaid trousers and a hoodie, but definitely not _this_. Nonetheless, it was a very pleasant surprise.

“Wow, you made an effort,” she remarked and took another look at the handsome figure in front of her. “You even put on a costume.”

“Suit,” he corrected her quickly and lowered his hand.

Clara chuckled. “And a tie. Or bow,” she added and smirked in his direction. “Whatever it is, you look very handsome in it.”

As soon as she had spoken the words, the Doctor's cheeks turned a dark shade of red and Clara decided not to torture him any longer. She was already wearing her coat and ready to go.

“Are you okay?” the Doctor suddenly asked her as she locked the door of her flat. “You look a bit pale.”

Clara looked at him and smiled. “Yeah,” she reassured him. It wasn't entirely the truth. This morning, Clara had woken up with a mild headache, but it hadn't grown any worse and she was sure that the painkiller she had taken ten minutes ago would get rid of the rest. “Shall we go?”

The Doctor's face lit up and once again, he extended his arm. This time, Clara took it and let him lead her to the car, knowing that she had definitely made the right decision in asking him to the party.

 

“Is it still the house with the blue door?” the Doctor asked her when they turned onto Amy's street. 

“Yep, still the one,” she confirmed and pointed at one of the houses ahead. “There it is.”

He parked the car right next to the house and Clara was a little surprised when he almost jumped out of the car while she was still busy gathering up her things until he opened the door to the passenger side.

“Oh,” she uttered, “you, uhm, you're really getting into character, aren't you?”

“No clue what you're talking about,” he replied and took Amy's present out of her hands while she was still climbing out of the car.

“Yes, you do,” Clara said strictly, poked his chest with her index finger and took the wrapped present back from him. “You're being a gentleman. Why are you being a gentleman?”

When she raised her eyebrows at him inquisitively, the Doctor let his shoulders sink and blew the air out of his lungs. She was right – there was indeed a reason for his behaviour and she would get to the bottom of it.

“Well, you said you had planned to take a date to Amy's party and you seemed pretty beaten when you realized it wasn't going to work out,” he argued, but for some reason, the Doctor failed to make eye contact. “You deserve it. You deserve a gentleman who treats you well.”

Clara couldn't help the smile that spread across her face when she heard him say those words. Their meaning and the shy, flustered way in which he said them simply melted her heart and suddenly, she felt the comforting, warm glow of being loved. Even if her recent dates had been unsuccessful, she still had someone who would always be there for her.

Without thinking about it any further, Clara pushed herself up on tiptoes and placed a long, soft kiss on his cheek. The Doctor blushed once again.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “And just so you know, you're the best date someone could hope for.”

 

“Are you gonna come in at some point or stand in front of my house all night?”

When Clara heard Amy's voice, she instantly stepped away from the Doctor and turned towards her friend. Amy looked thoroughly gorgeous tonight in her black flapper dress and headband.

“Beautiful birthday girl!” Clara exclaimed excitedly, but she suddenly felt a stab of pain behind her eyes as she heard her own voice at that volume. She ignored the pain and approached her friend to give her a hug. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you!” Amy replied happily as Clara handed her the present.

“Happy birthday from me, too,” the Doctor said behind her. “You don't expect a hug, do you?”

“No worries,” Amy reassured him and Clara watched her scan the Doctor with her gaze and giggled a little. She really couldn't blame her friend. Not when the Doctor looked so handsome tonight. “Nice costume.”

“Suit,” he argued again.

“Whatever. Come inside!”

 

The painful sensation behind her eyes didn't exactly improve as she stepped into the house that was packed with people making all sorts of loud noises, but Clara was determined not to let a tiny headache ruin this party for her. She had been looking forward to it for months, even bought a very expensive dress just for the occasion.

“Let me take your coat,” the Doctor suggested and Clara smiled once again when she realized how attentive he was tonight. He was really trying his best to cheer her up.

However, as soon as the Doctor had helped her out of her coat, he suddenly stopped and his gaze dropped right to her cleavage.

“Wow,” he uttered and then quickly glanced away. “I, uhm, I mean, are you sure you don't wanna put the coat back on?”

Clara chuckled. “Why? Are you feeling distracted?” she teased. It was funny to see that even he was a little flustered upon looking at her.

“No, uhm, I thought-” he paused and tried his best to maintain eye contact. For some reason, Clara found his sudden nervousness amusing and also strangely flattering. Usually, the Doctor didn't notice her looks, so when he did, she knew that she was indeed looking great tonight. “I just thought you might be cold.”

“I'm not,” she reassured him. “Shall I get us some drinks?”

He frowned. “Isn't that my job?”

Clara chuckled at him. “Take a little break from being a gentleman. You'll need your strength later when you're gonna dance with me.”

“I'm gonna do _what_?”

She was still giggling a little when she turned around and walked in the direction of the kitchen. The decision to bring the Doctor along was probably the best one she had had in the past few months and Clara could already feel her mood lift although the evening hadn't even started yet. How did he do it? How did he always know how to make her feel better? And on top of that, the Doctor had noticed her low-cut dress. The Doctor, the man who couldn't even spot a sexual innuendo if it came with a neon sign. If that wasn't a boost for her self-esteem, Clara didn't know what was.

“Careful!” a voice almost yelled at her, but it was too late to stop the collision when Clara bumped right into him only a second later.

“Oh my God, I'm sorry,” she apologized quickly and looked up to see that she had run straight into a young man. The contents of his drink were now spilt across his jacket. “Oh, I'm really sorry.”

The man granted her a quick smile and reached for the nearest napkin. Once he had cleaned his jacket, Clara was relieved to see that only a wet stain remained.

“It's alright,” he reassured her. “See? Nothing happened.”

“Still sorry,” she mumbled.

The man shrugged and Clara had to admit that he looked quite cute. Blonde, curly hair, blue eyes, a good nose. But, knowing her luck, he was probably here with his girlfriend.

“You seemed quite lost in your thoughts,” he remarked. “Must have been a good one, judging by your smile.”

“Well, now I know that daydreaming leads to accidents,” she replied and extended her hand to him. “I'm Clara, a friend of the birthday girl.”

“Scott,” he said and smiled at her in response. “I'm one of Rory's colleagues.”

“Scott.” Clara grinned at him and tried to remain from flinching when the pain shot through her head again. By now, it had spread to her temples as well. But Clara couldn't let that distract her now that she had a new mission. “I suppose we'll have to get you a new drink.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Scott gonna be a potential love interest? Will the Doctor do something romantic at the party? Will she finally see him? Let's find out! Thank you guys so much for your comments :)

The Doctor watched the spectacle unfold from a distance and his heart sank when he realized that the small chance he had had was now going up in smoke. Even though he had chosen not to tell Clara about Missy's meddling immediately, he still had decided to take at least part of her advice to heart. The Doctor had put on his best suit for the occasion and he was trying every trick in the book to make Clara see that he was being serious about this date, from opening the door to helping her with her coat. And yet there she was, flirting with another man. She was laughing and practically throwing herself at him and unlike the Doctor, this guy didn't even have the decency to refrain from blatantly staring at her breasts. Sad and disgusted with the sight on display, the Doctor finally turned around and looked straight into Amy's face.

“I see they've found each other already,” she remarked.

“Who?”

Amy grinned. “Clara and Scott,” she explained. “I told Rory to invite his nicest and best-looking bachelor colleagues.”

So he had Amy to thank for the ruined date.

“Should've saved yourself the trouble,” he barked. “Clara said she is taking a break from dating.”

“Doesn't look like it to me,” she replied and nodded in Clara's direction. The Doctor didn't feel like looking back to see what was happening and when a glass shattered on the other end of the room, it seemed that he was finally rid of Amy as well. “I should probably mop that up. See you around!”

“Yeah,” he breathed in reply and dared another glance in Clara's direction. 

To his surprise, she was no longer in Scott's company and she didn't look all too happy after all as she made her way through the crowd towards him, holding a glass of champagne in her hand. Once she had reached him, she held it out in his direction.

“None for you?” the Doctor asked as he took it from her.

Clara shook her head. No, she didn't look happy at all. “I've got a headache and I feel like champagne is only gonna make it worse.”

“How about a strong cup of tea instead? Or a coffee?” he suggested hopefully. The Doctor knew how much Clara had been looking forward to this party. It would be a shame if it was ruined by a headache. On the other hand, it wasn't at all bad if her flirt with Scott was ruined.

“No, I've tried that this afternoon. Didn't help,” she growled.

He needed to cheer her up and he needed to do it quickly.

“Okay, then let's get some fresh air,” the Doctor decided. “That definitely can't hurt.”

Finally, Clara cracked a reluctant smile. “That sounds like a good idea.”

 

The Doctor opened the door to the garden and at first, he was quite surprised to find it empty. None of the other guests were outside, not even the smokers. Then Clara shivered next to him and he understood why that was.

“Ugh, it's freezing,” she complained.

Quickly, the Doctor stripped out of his jacket and covered Clara's shoulders with it while she threw him a grateful look.

“Aren't you gonna be cold now?”

The Doctor shrugged. “I assume my shirt is still warmer than your dress.”

“True,” she replied and then took a deep breath while her head turned towards the sky.

He hated the view. It was a clear night and still, they could only see a couple of stars because of London's light pollution. The Doctor imagined what a marvel the sky must be like in the countryside. Then, his mind wandered back to the more pressing matter.

“So, who was the guy you were talking to earlier?” he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible. He was probably failing at that.

“Scott is one of Rory's colleagues,” Clara explained.

“You seemed friendly with him.”

To his surprise, she started to chuckle. “I bumped into him and spilt his drink all over his jacket. Would be slightly rude if I was mean to him afterwards.”

“That wouldn't stop me,” the Doctor growled softly. “He looks like a pudding brain.”

Suddenly, the Doctor felt Clara reach for his arm and a moment later, she snuggled up to him. Out here in the cold, the Doctor found her body heat so inviting that he had almost thrown his own principles overboard and hugged her, but he never even got the chance because the door to the house opened and the pudding brain stuck his head into the garden.

“Oh, uhm, sorry if I interrupted you,” Scott spluttered. The Doctor was right. Pudding brain.

“Nonsense,” Clara replied in a friendly manner and the night seemed even colder when she let go of his arm. “You didn't interrupt anything. I just came out for some fresh air.”

Still, Scott didn't seem entirely convinced as he looked from Clara to the Doctor and back. “I was just wondering whether, uhm,” he paused and once again glanced at the Doctor, “whether you'd like to dance.”

To the Doctor's dismay, Clara beamed at the other man and he was promptly handed his jacket back. “I'd very much like that.”

It was at the tip of his tongue. The Doctor so wanted to say something, to end this silly flirt, to make Scott go away, but before he could make up his mind, Clara had vanished into the house. All he could do was put his jacket back on and wait out here because there was no chance the Doctor would follow her inside and watch Clara dance with another man.

 

It took about half an hour before the cold had made it through every layer of clothing he was wearing and the Doctor was positively freezing by now, yet there was no sign of Clara. She was probably still dancing with the pudding brain and once he stepped inside, the Doctor would never be able to get that image out of his head ever again, but he decided that it was still the preferable option over hypothermia.

“Oh, there you are,” Amy's voice greeted him as soon as he had entered the warm, cosy living room. “I've been looking for you.”

“Why?” the Doctor asked blatantly, raising an eyebrow. “Something wrong with Clara?”

Amy shrugged. “She's having a really bad headache, so I told her to lie down in the guest bedroom for a bit. Could you maybe bring her a cup of tea and check on her? I would, but I need to prepare the fondue.”

“No problem,” he reassured her. Better him than pudding brain. “I'll do it.”

“Thanks,” Clara's friend said. “You're the best.”

Armed with two steaming mugs of tea, the Doctor made his way upstairs shortly after and he found Clara with the duvet drawn over her head in the guest bedroom.

“Ugh, noise,” she complained immediately and the Doctor quickly closed the door behind him, only to find that he was now standing in almost complete darkness. The little light that had fallen in through the crack was gone.

Carefully, he set the mugs down on where he thought the bedside table was and the Doctor was surprised when he didn't miss.

“It's me,” he said quietly. “Are you okay?”

“Pain,” Clara grumbled in reply.

When his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, the Doctor was beginning to see the shapes of the bedroom in the soft light of the street lamps that managed to make its way in through the window.

“I'm sorry,” the Doctor whispered and he watched as Clara stuck her head out from under the duvet. “I know you've been looking forward to this party. But hey, I brought some tea. Maybe it'll help after all.”

“Thanks,” she muttered.

The Doctor sighed. He hated seeing her like this. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No,” Clara replied and patted the empty side of the bed. “Quiet company is good.”

Reluctantly, the Doctor walked around the bed and he wasn't quite sure whether he should actually get in. They had never shared a bed before apart from that time in Dublin where they had had a pint too many at the pub, but that bed had been bigger and he had been too drunk to actually take notice of the woman next to him. Slowly, he climbed in, but he made sure to keep a safe distance between them.

It didn't do him any good at all because, a moment later, Clara turned around in bed and wrapped her arm around his chest while she buried her face in the fabric of his shirt. His heart instantly started beating faster.

“This migraine picked the worst day,” she complained, but her voice was muffled by his shirt.

“Try to sleep for a bit,” the Doctor said. “I heard that helps.”

He felt Clara nod against his chest and for a moment, he had thought she would let him go. The Doctor wasn't even sure whether he wanted Clara to let go or not, but when he gently placed his own arm around her in return, she uttered a small sigh of contentment. In a matter of minutes, Clara had fallen asleep.

 

The Doctor wasn't sure how much time had passed and he was starting to feel a little sleepy, too. It was the comfortable bed and the low sounds of music coming from downstairs and of course the sensation of holding Clara in his arms. 

Then suddenly, the door to the bedroom opened and the pudding brain looked inside. It was obvious from the expression on his face that he had suspected to find Clara alone and his confusion was visible when he realized that she wasn't.

Any friend would have told Scott that it wasn't what it looked like, but the recent conversation with Missy was still on the Doctor's mind. He knew exactly what it looked like and he wanted Scott to think just that. So instead of explaining that he was only a friend, the Doctor merely shrugged and the pudding brain quickly retreated. The Doctor was so going to hell.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments, my dear readers :) I wonder if we've seen the last of Scott?

There was no pain when she woke up, which was a good sign after having gone to bed with a skull-crushing headache. In fact, Clara felt great. For once, she was well-rested and above all, comfortable. Her bed wasn't usually this comfortable and warm and the reason why was only beginning to dawn on her when she became aware of the soft snoring sound beneath her. Clara blinked and immediately noticed that she wasn't in her own bed at all, not even in her own flat. She was still in Amy's guest bedroom and what was even more astounding, the Doctor was with her. The vague memory of him checking on her and then joining her in bed came back and somehow, she guessed, they must have fallen asleep.

Clara almost chuckled when she thought about how much the Doctor usually hated hugging, but here he was with his arms wrapped tightly around her. Clara couldn't remember the last time someone had held her like this, but it was a wonderful sensation and she couldn't deny that she loved it just a little bit. However, she was aware that it would only last until the Doctor woke up, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it in the meantime.

When she nuzzled her head back against his chest, Clara inhaled the sweet scent of his aftershave and it reminded her of last night. What on earth had she done to deserve someone like him? Even though he hadn't been keen on going to the party, he had dressed up and played the gentleman exclusively for her because he had somehow known how much it meant to her. Suddenly, Clara felt a little bit guilty for not being more appreciative. She had left him to dance with Scott and when her headache had grown worse, his effort had technically been for nothing. She would have to make it up to him soon. Maybe she could invite him over and make the soufflés he loved so much. Clara smiled at the thought of it. Yes, soufflés were an excellent idea.

A knock on the door tore her from her train of thoughts and when the Doctor stirred beneath her, she knew that their little cuddle session was about to come to an end. Before the Doctor could utter is protests, Clara released him from her embrace and turned towards the door right as Amy stuck her head through the crack.

“Morning,” her friend greeted her. It was painfully obvious that her night hadn't been nearly as restful. “How's your head?”

“Better than yours, I guess,” Clara replied, raising her eyebrows at Amy. “You look like hell.”

Amy growled. “Rory made breakfast. Wanna join us downstairs?”

“Sure,” she said and glanced back at the Doctor. “Hungry?”

He was obviously still half asleep but nodded absent-mindedly and Clara turned back to face Amy and gave an approving nod as well.

“We'll be downstairs in a bit,” she said with a smile.

Once the door had closed behind her friend, Clara decided to focus on the Doctor for a moment, but before she even had a chance to apologize, he beat her to it.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “I, uhm, I didn't mean to fall asleep.”

“Don't worry about it,” Clara reassured him and then dropped her gaze to her lap. Only now did she realize that she was still in her revealing flapper dress and vowed to borrow some of Amy's clothes before going downstairs. “I should be the one to apologize. You made such an effort last night and I just took off with Scott. That was rude of me.”

“At least you didn't pour a drink over my jacket like you did with him,” the Doctor argued.

“Still, I wanna make it up to you,” Clara said determinedly. “Tomorrow after school. My place. You pick the movie and I'll make soufflés.”

A reluctant smile spread across the Doctor's face. “You know I can't say no to your soufflés, right?”

Clara grinned at him. “That's what I'm counting on.”

 

While the Doctor went ahead, Clara changed into some more comfortable, borrowed clothes before she joined the rest of them downstairs.

“Thanks,” Clara said sincerely. “The dress wasn't really the proper breakfast attire.”

“Don't mention it,” Amy replied. She had combed her hair now and removed the rest of her smudged eyeliner and she was looking a little less like she had partied all night. There was also a strange smile on her face that Clara couldn't quite place. “I suppose the Doctor would've been a little distracted by your cleavage otherwise.”

Clara laughed. “I'm still surprised he actually seemed to notice that I have breasts.”

“He did more than just notice them, trust me,” her friend told her. “I think he was a little jealous when you hit it off with Scott.”

“Don't be ridiculous. He's the Doctor. And he wasn't jealous of the other men I went out with,” Clara said her. “He's my best friend, so he may be a bit protective, but that's only because he wants to make sure I don't end up with the wrong guy.”

“Really?” Amy arched her eyebrows at Clara. “And what about the all-night cuddling I so rudely interrupted this morning?”

“How do you know we cuddled all night?”

“So, uhm, the coffee's getting a bit cold down here!” Rory's voice came from downstairs.

Amy shrugged. “You heard the man of the house,” she said and headed down the stairs. Clara, not eager to drink cold coffee, had no other choice but to follow her.

 

The Doctor was already nibbling on a piece of toast when Clara plopped down in the chair next to him and she instantly reached for her coffee mug to take a big sip. Luckily for her, it wasn't cold and it tasted as heavenly as the rest of the breakfast smelled.

“Thanks for letting us stay,” Clara said before she took a bite of her butter croissant. “And for the breakfast.”

“No problem,” Amy replied instantly.

“Well, certainly not for you cause I was the one who prepared it,” Rory argued.

“Here, let me repay you for that,” Amy said and leaned over to peck him on the lips. “More of that later.”

Clara noticed that the Doctor's gaze instantly dropped to his plate. He really wasn't comfortable with public display of emotions. But then Clara's mind went back to the unfinished conversation between her and Amy.

“So, uhm,” she began reluctantly, “what did we miss last night?”

Rory shrugged in response. “Mainly just dancing, some broken glasses and Amy throwing up for half an hour, so basically just a regular party in costumes.”

“And,” she paused. Clara really needed to know because she was under the impression that they had gotten along very well last night. “Scott, uhm, he didn't happen to say anything about me?”

Both Amy's and Rory's head instantly shot up and they exchanged a quick glance. It made Clara frown and for a moment, she considered the possibility that he had said something not very pleasant, but that couldn't be. They had talked and danced and Clara had thought that he was interested.

“Did he leave his number?” she enquired cautiously.

“I'm afraid he didn't,” Amy replied eventually.

Well, it wasn't the end of the world. Maybe he was shy. “That's okay,” Clara determined. “I mean, Rory can give me his number. I'll call him.”

“I don't think Scott was all that interested anymore after he saw you in bed with the Doctor,” Rory said and was instantly elbowed in the stomach by Amy. “What?! It's the truth.”

“Oh,” Clara uttered in response. Yes, they had cuddled last night and for some reason, Scott must have come in to check on her after she had fallen asleep. And that was how Amy had known about it, too.

Her friend granted her an apologetic look and when Clara glanced towards the Doctor, he merely shrugged, the most innocent expression on his face. Clara couldn't help but think that at least it fit the recent pattern. She really had the worst of luck. Even if the guy seemed perfect, fate still found a way to screw it up for her. But maybe it wasn't too late just yet.

“Give me his number anyway,” Clara said determinedly. “I'll clear it up.”

“Fine,” Rory replied, but once again, he exchanged a quick look with Amy that told Clara they very much doubted it would do any good. Well, she would just have to prove them wrong.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did warn you about the slow burn, didn't I? XD Thank you so much for the comments!

“Hi, this is Scott Jones?”

Clara inhaled deeply. She could do this. She had _practised_ this.

“Hi, it's Clara here,” she replied hesitantly.

There was a pause on the other end of the line and suddenly, Clara wasn't quite sure anymore how Scott would react. They had gotten along so well at the party, at least for a brief moment, so she thought the little misunderstanding would be easily cleared up.

“Hello Clara,” he said after a while and he sounded surprised more than anything. “I'm sorry, I didn't exactly expect your call.”

“I hope it's okay that Rory gave me your number. Don't blame it on him, I made him give it to me,” she chuckled nervously. “I wanted to apologize for just vanishing on Saturday.”

“It's alright,” he replied. “I mean, you weren't feeling well. I get it.”

She had to come out with it and she had to come out with it now, yet the words just wouldn't come out of her mouth. Clara was nervous.

“I, uhm, I was wondering if you. . . well, maybe, if you'd like to. . . uhm. . . finish that conversation we started on Saturday? I don't know, maybe over dinner?”

“You mean as a date?” Scott enquired and again, there was the sound of surprise in his voice.

“Yes,” Clara said and blew the air out of her lungs. “As a date.”

“Aren't you, well-,” he broke off, obviously confused. “I'm sorry, I was under the impression that you had someone. You know, the man you went to the party with.”

“The Doctor is my best friend,” she explained. “I know what it must have looked like, but I swear, it's not like that. He's just a friend.”

“I have the night shift at the hospital all week,” Scott replied and Clara could already feel her heart sink. He wasn't interested after all. “But I've got the day off on Saturday. We could grab a cup of coffee.”

Clara smiled at the phone. “I like the sound of that,” she said sincerely. Maybe this flirt wasn't a lost cause after all. A coffee date was definitely a start.

* * *

When the Doctor walked up to Clara's flat the next day, he was still carrying a lot of guilt with him. He hadn't told Clara about what Missy had done and if he did, Clara would hate Missy even more than she already did and probably get mad at him for keeping the secret for over a week. No, the time to tell her had passed, so all he could do was hope that Missy would stop. However, the Doctor wasn't entirely sure he was a lot better than his old friend after not clearing up the misunderstanding with Scott right away. In the end, that potential relationship had been ruined by him.

However, when Clara opened the door and he was greeted with a smile and the lovely scent of fresh soufflés, his guilty conscience didn't feel quite as bad anymore. After all, he only wanted her best and that included not telling her things that would hurt her and preventing her from dating a pudding brain.

“Come in,” Clara said excitedly and waved him inside. “I made coffee and soufflés.”

“You realize that I didn't really expect anything in return for taking you to the party, right?”

Clara stopped and looked at him, the soft smile still on her face. Somehow, he thought, she was looking even more beautiful than she had in her flapper dress on Saturday and it was because of the smile.

“I know,” she replied. “But I want to do something nice for you. You've been the perfect friend in the past few months and I should be more appreciative. I mean, you picked me up from my failed dates, you cheered me up, you even took me to a party even though you hate events like that. Making a soufflé for you is the least I could do.”

“Well, if you put it that way,” he replied with a shrug and then sank down on the sofa. “Bring on the soufflés!”

 

A few minutes later, Clara joined him on the sofa with fresh coffee and a warm soufflé. The Doctor inhaled the sweet, lovely scent of it and it made his mouth water, but then his guilty conscience returned. He wasn't as perfect as Clara made him sound. Far from it.

“So, uhm,” he began. The least _he_ could do was to apologize for one of his mistakes. “I'm sorry I messed things up with Scott. I was still up when he came into the guest bedroom and maybe I should've said something right from the start.”

Clara merely shrugged. “It's fine,” she replied. “I called Scott earlier and we agreed on a coffee date next Saturday. You didn't mess up anything.”

The Doctor's head shot around in an instant. “W-what? You're gonna meet with him?” he asked and his voice sounded maybe a little harsher than he had intended.

“Sure,” Clara said as if it should have been obvious. “He seems like a nice guy.”

“He seems like a pudding brain,” the Doctor spat in reply.

Clara laughed at him and the Doctor knew that he should try to keep his jealousy at bay before she noticed it, but how could he when she was going on yet another date? And above all, it was a date Missy had no influence over. Right now, he was even a little grateful because she had ruined the others.

“I think it's really sweet that you're trying to make sure I'm not dating a jerk,” she told him sincerely, “but Scott seems really nice and this coffee date is just a chance to get to know each other better.”

The Doctor nodded even though he still wanted to talk her out of it. Without Missy's help, all he could do was hope the date would fail on its own. But why was he even hoping that? Clara deserved a nice relationship, he had determined that a long time ago.

“I just-” he paused, unsure of how he should say it. “I don't really understand why you're so adamant. I mean, you're young. There's no one rushing you.”

In return, Clara granted him another smile. “I know,” she replied. “But it's complicated. Everyone around me has someone. It was different when Amy was still single, but now that she has Rory, I feel like a failure because I haven't had a proper relationship in years. And I want it. I want a decent man in my life who is always there for me, someone I can talk to about everything, a partner, someone to just. . . I know it sounds silly, but I just want someone to hold me.”

She didn't see it. She really didn't. For years, the Doctor had been exactly that and still, Clara couldn't see him even though he was right in front of her. It was sad to the point that it almost drove him mad.

The suddenly, the expression on her face changed and she was throwing him a curious, almost inquisitive look. “Why haven't you found someone after River?” Clara asked. “I mean, you're handsome, you're smart, funny. I admit some of your quirks take a bit of getting used to, but why haven't you found anyone else?”

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply, but found that he suddenly couldn't get a single word out. He wanted to shout it at her, to tell her she was the one, that he had been in love with her from the first moment, that he couldn't imagine this feeling would ever pass, but instead, the Doctor remained silent.

“Are you secretly gay?” Clara enquired. “You can tell me. I won't judge.”

“No,” he responded instantly. Was that why she kept hugging him? Because she thought he would never get any ideas?

Clara cocked her eyebrows at him. “Are you asexual?”

“No!” he replied, frowning at her in response.

Now, she chuckled. “Are you and Missy. . . you know, doing it?”

“God, no!” the Doctor blurted out. “Missy is my oldest friend! It would be like kissing my sister!”

“Then why haven't you found someone after River?” Clara demanded to know, smiling at him. “You're basically perfect! It just doesn't make sense.”

“It's complicated,” he growled in reply, throwing her own explanations back at her. How could he explain the truth to her without losing her friendship? And lose her he would if she ever found out about his feelings. “I, uhm, I was married once and it was great. I just. . . I don't know, I don't want my relationships to be meaningless. I loved River, I grieved for her. If I was with someone I didn't have the right feelings for, it would be like. . . insulting her memory.”

Finally, the curiosity faded from Clara's face and it left her with an honest, broad smile. “You want it to be special,” she realized and the started to laugh again. “Man, you really are perfect.”

The Doctor uttered a sigh, but Clara didn't seem to notice. The truth was that he had found someone special and even though she thought that he was perfect, he didn't seem perfect enough for her.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *big group hug for the faithful commenters* Now, let's see how Clara's date with Scott goes and whether Missy will be there to ruin it again. . .

“That coffee better taste magnificent or else we should demand our money back,” Clara joked as they sat down in a more quiet corner of the café. She really liked the location Scott had chosen and it gave her hope that this date wouldn't end in a disaster. The furniture was modern yet comfortable, but the price they asked for a simple cup of coffee was more than Clara would have paid had she been on her own. Luckily for them, the café was almost empty thanks to the rainy weather outside. If it hadn't been for Scott, Clara wouldn't have set a foot out of her door.

Scott smiled at her, but he didn't quite meet her gaze. “Well, it seemed like a nice spot for a chat.”

“A chat,” Clara repeated his words. They had definitely been less awkward last Saturday. “I was under the impression that it was more like a date?”

He chuckled nervously and finally lifted his head to look at her properly. “Sorry,” he apologized quickly. “Of course it's a date. I'm just. . . well, it's been a while since a woman asked me out. I'm not really sure what the right procedure for this one is.”

Clara granted him a smile. He was nervous, which was cute. “In that case, a chat is a good start,” she told him sincerely and took a sip of her coffee. “Mhh, this really is good. Costs an arm and a leg, but it's good.”

“Glad to hear,” Scott said and breathed an obvious sigh of relief. “So, uhm, the man you went to the party with, he's a friend?”

Clara nodded. “The Doctor is my best friend.”

A small frown appeared on the man's face, but Clara didn't have to wait very long for the next question to follow. “I have to admit, it's a bit unusual. I mean, your age difference. I thought he was your boyfriend.”

“He's not,” she reassured him. “And he's not my sugar daddy either in case that would have been your next question.”

“It wouldn't have,” he replied hesitantly.

Damn, Clara should have just skipped that last part. All she could do now was to explain it to him a little better. “The Doctor and I, we're sort of travelling companions. I don't have anyone to go on holiday with unless I want to be Amy and Rory's third wheel and he doesn't have anyone either since his wife died, so at some point, we just started travelling together,” she explained. “We're gonna go to Paris during the summer holidays.”

“You're gonna go to Paris? With your friend?” Scott asked and for some reason, there was a hint of disbelief in his voice that Clara couldn't quite place. Was that such an unusual thing? It wasn't uncommon for friends to travel together and she could see nothing wrong with that.

“Yeah,” she replied and then started to laugh. “The Doctor promised to take me to Disneyland and if you knew him, you would know how hilarious the idea is. I'm definitely gonna put Mickey Mouse ears on his head even though I promised not to.”

Scott cleared his throat and Clara realized that the idea of her going on holiday with the Doctor seemed to make him a little uncomfortable – and his discomfort with the Doctor made her uncomfortable in return. He was such a huge part of her life that she just couldn't imagine giving that up for a man. Any potential boyfriend would have to at least tolerate him.

“And what do you do when you're not travelling?” he asked her.

“Well, on Saturday we already covered that I'm a teacher, so when I'm not teaching I usually hang out with Amy or with the Doctor. He owns a second-hand record shop and we often just sit there and listen to music.”

She watched as Scott nodded, but his gaze dropped to his coffee mug again and Clara got the distinct feeling that this date was headed towards another disaster unless she stopped talking about the Doctor. Scott clearly wasn't keen on hearing any more about him.

“And what do you do in your spare time?” Clara asked nervously and drank her coffee. Somehow she doubted that there would be a second date.

* * *

_Clara was on a date with Scott. It was fine. The Doctor wasn't jealous at all. Clara deserved happiness and a lasting relationship with a man her own age._

“Bollocks!” the Doctor cursed once he was done trying to tell himself that he wasn't bothered. Because he was. The Doctor was extremely bothered by the fact that Clara was on a date with a good-looking, young man that even Missy couldn't ruin for her. Somehow, the knowledge that his oldest friend had helped in making Clara's recent dates fail, made him feel even worse about this one. This time, there was no one meddling with her love life and Clara was an attractive, intelligent woman. Surely, pudding brain Scott would see that and never let her go. And if that happened, his friendship with Clara might as well be over.

Not knowing what else to do, the Doctor reached for his phone and called the only person he could think of, the only person who knew everything about him.

“Clara is on a date,” he complained immediately before his friend had even said hello.

“I didn't do anything,” Missy said defensively. “I stopped reading her messages and I certainly stopped telling men nasty, little things about her.”

“That's not the problem,” the Doctor said with a heavy sigh. “Besides, she didn't meet him online.”

There was a pause before Missy uttered a long, curious “Ohhhhhhh.”

“What? Oh?”

His friend chuckled on the other end of the line. “You liked that I screwed up her dates, didn't you?”

“Absolutely not!” he barked in reply. It had been a terrible thing to do and he still felt a little guilty just for knowing about it.

“Yeah.” Missy sighed. “But the thing is, you did like it even though you're too much of a gentleman to admit it. You're jealous. You want Clara all to yourself.”

The Doctor merely growled in response.

“That fine, you know,” she said matter-of-factly. “I mean, I get it.”

“I took your advice,” he explained. “I took action. I went to a party with her – as her date. I dressed up, I held the door open for her and she just went off to dance with another man.”

“Well, you obviously didn't do it right,” Missy remarked.

“Really not helping, Missy,” he growled.

The Doctor heard her take a deep breath on the other end of the phone. “Doctor, what exactly do you want from me? Why did you call?”

He groaned. This entire situation was utterly hopeless and this time, not even his oldest friend could do anything to change it.

“If it's advice you want, I can already tell you that you're not gonna like it,” she said. “It's effective, but you'll hate it and you'll hate yourself for doing it even though you really want to.”

“And what would that advice be?”

He was desperate. Maybe even desperate enough to listen to her. The Doctor just really didn't want to lose Clara and lose her he would if she started dating a hunky, young man.

“Call her,” Missy told him. “Invent an emergency for which she'll have to leave her date immediately. Better yet, show up there because I can promise you that any boyfriend will not like that his date is being interrupted by potential competition.”

“You were right,” he muttered. “I really don't like it.”

“Well, take it or leave it. I'm declaring this officially not my problem any longer,” Missy replied in a surprisingly cheerful manner. “I gotta go. Bye.”

Before the Doctor had a chance to say anything else, Missy hung up and he was left to stare at the phone in his hand. Everything she had told him was right. The Doctor hated the advice she had given him and he would hate himself for following it – but that didn't change the fact that was really tempted to do it anyway.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your comments :) You're absolutely right. Clara doesn't even need help to ruin this date. She can do it all by herself. But how will this particular date end?

Clara was playing with the handle of her coffee mug, only half taking in what Scott was telling her. They had come back to the topic of travelling and he had thawed somewhat, but Clara was enjoying this date less and less with every passing minute.

“I think Paris is one of those cities you just have to experience with your partner,” he said after a while. “It's a very romantic atmosphere.”

“Uh-huh,” she replied. Except that she didn't have a partner and neither did Scott. Clara was starting to understand why that was.

“Are you even listening to me?” Scott asked, frowning at her.

Clara opened her mouth to respond, knowing that the only reasonable thing she could do was to end this date right away. It wouldn't lead anywhere. Yet before she had the chance, her phone rang in her pocket. She reached for it and breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted the Doctor's name on her screen. Once again, he was saving her from a terrible date and this time, she didn't even have to ask.

“Can't that wait?” Scott wanted to know.

Clara faked an apologetic smile. “Sorry, it's the Doctor,” she explained. “Could be important.”

“Of course, there's nothing more important than your _friend_.”

Ignoring his comment, Clara answered her phone. “Hey Doctor, what's up?”

“Hey, uhm,” he paused. “I know you're currently on a date and if this is a bad time, just say so.”

“No, it's fine,” she reassured him. “Keep going.”

Across the table, Clara could see Scott rolling his eyes just a little.

“I, uhm, I'm in a bit of a situation. I locked myself out of the house,” the Doctor explained with a heavy sigh.

“What? But it's pouring! Do you at least have an umbrella?”

“Oh, I wish I had, trust me,” he replied.

It was perfect. Finally, Clara had a reason to get out of this horrible coffee date.

“I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Go stand under. . . something,” she told him, but she knew well enough that the trees in front of his house wouldn't provide a lot of protection from this kind of downpour.

“But you're on a date. I. . . I wouldn't wanna get in the way of that.”

“Really, no big deal,” Clara insisted. And later, she would thank him for unknowingly saving her from sitting through the rest of the awkward conversation. “I can hardly let you catch pneumonia. Be there in a bit!”

Before the Doctor could protest, Clara hung up and looked at Scott. “I'm so sorry,” she lied, “but I'm afraid I'll have to leave.”

“Can I ask you a question before you go?”

She was a little taken aback by the tone of his voice, but nevertheless, Clara nodded.

“Why did you call and ask me out on a date when you're obviously not free?” Scott demanded to know.

“What?” Clara asked in return, the confusion audible in her voice. The last time she had checked, she was very much free and single.

“Oh, come on,” Scott said, rolling his eyes once again. “You went to the party with him, you sleep in each other's arms, you're going to Paris with him and you jump the moment he calls. Even if he wasn't your boyfriend, I think it's fairly obvious that you're in love with him, so you can't blame me for feeling a little tricked here.”

“You know what,” Clara spat at him in reply and rose from her seat, “I think it's fairly obvious you've never had a close friend.”

 

Clara grabbed her jacket and turned around on her heels before Scott had the chance to say anything else. He was obviously not the one for her because Clara would never date someone who couldn't accept that the Doctor was a big part of her life. He had been there for her for the past four years, he had listened to her, cheered her up, taken her all across Europe when no other man could be bothered to even pay her the slightest bit of attention. Clara would never throw that away for the chance of romance and sex and, judging by his ludicrous accusations, Scott would never accept the Doctor.

In love with the Doctor. Clara scoffed when she stepped out into the rain and started heading in the direction of the Doctor's house which, luckily, wasn't too far from the café. In love. She had never heard such a ridiculous thing in her entire life.

* * *

The Doctor wasn't quite sure what was worse, the guilt he felt over calling Clara away from her date or the rain that had already seeped through every layer of clothing and was now making his shirt and trousers cling to his body in the most disgusting way. If he caught pneumonia or even something as minor as a cold, he would never let Missy hear the end of it because it was her advise that had made him lock himself out of his house on purpose. He had started to regret it only a minute later.

“Sorry, sorry,” Clara uttered as she rushed past him. She looked just as drenched as he was. “I'm here now.”

The guilt was definitely worse and he knew that if Clara caught a cold, he would definitely give Missy hell. He would have to apologize to her immediately as soon as they were inside. The Doctor waited while Clara pulled her keys out of her pocket and opened the door. Giving her his spare key had been a marvellous idea.

“I'm the one who should apologize,” the Doctor said ruefully as they stepped into the dry corridor. “I screwed up your date.”

“Can we have this discussion when we're not dripping all over the floor?” Clara replied and somehow, he thought that she sounded very, very annoyed. 

Oh dear. He had truly messed up this time. Missy was as good as dead.

 

The Doctor led her deeper into the house and they both dropped their coats over the kitchen chairs to dry. The rest of their clothing, however, was just as drenched and so the Doctor found himself offering Clara a jumper, a pair of socks and a towel for her hair. A few minutes later, when they had both dried off and changed their clothes, the Doctor and Clara sat down on his sofa, each of them clutching a hot cup of tea.

“Once again, sorry for ruining your date,” the Doctor mumbled into his mug.

Clara hadn't said much since they had stepped into his house but eventually, she uttered a long, heavy sigh. “It's fine. In fact, I should thank you. Well, not for making me run through the downpour, but for giving me a chance to escape,” she said after a while and took a sip of her tea.

The Doctor turned his head to look at her. Somehow, the sight of Clara's tiny figure in his oversized jumper was an adorable one, but he quickly reminded himself not to let that distract him. “Escape?” he asked carefully.

“Yeah,” she breathed in reply. “Date was a disaster.”

“Uhm-”

“Let's not talk about it, okay?” Clara asked and it became clear now that she wasn't really mad at him but at her failed date. “I really don't wanna talk about it. Scott is an idiot. I should never have asked Rory for his number.”

Clara reached for the nearest blanket and covered her bare legs with it. When the Doctor looked closely, he could still see her shiver.

“Would you like a pair of trousers?” he asked. The last thing he wanted was for her to catch a cold or worse.

Yet she laughed at him in response. “I don't think they're gonna fit me very well,” Clara joked. “Besides, plaid isn't really my style.”

“So you're not mad at me for interrupting you and Scott?” the Doctor enquired cautiously. He just had to know to shut up this nagging feeling of guilt.

“Absolutely not,” she reassured him with a smile. “And you were right. I should stop trying so hard to find a match. My future boyfriend is out there somewhere, I know it, but I don't think I'm gonna find him like this. From now on, I'm gonna wait and let them come to me.”

“I'm sorry,” he apologized again. It wasn't Clara's fault that her dates had failed. It was Missy's.

“Stop apologizing,” she told him strictly. “It's not your fault that all of my dates went wrong.”

It was a little bit his fault, but the Doctor couldn't tell Clara that.

“The whole process has just been a little disheartening, so I'm gonna do what you told me you're doing. I'm gonna wait until someone comes along and makes me feel the right things,” Clara said.

The Doctor granted her a smile, but still, he felt a little torn. There was the guilt and it mixed with the relief he felt over knowing that he would have Clara all to himself for a little longer.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Missy is the meddler, the Doctor is painfully shy and Clara just can't see it - but for how much longer can she be in denial? Thank you guys so much for your comments :)

“You locked yourself out of the house on purpose?” Missy asked in disbelief on the other end of the line. “I never thought I'd say this, but I'm very proud of you.”

The Doctor growled in response. He didn't feel proud about it in the slightest even though, as it had turned out, he hadn't ruined Clara's date at all, but the idea that he had stooped to Missy's level for this petty act of sabotage gave him a headache. Why couldn't he just let it be? Why couldn't the Doctor accept that at some point, Clara would enter a relationship?

“Don't beat yourself up over it,” his friend said nonchalantly. “It gets better over time.”

“I'm not planning on doing it again!” he barked into the phone, the outrage audible in his voice. 

“Let's be honest, you hadn't planned to do this at all and here you are, telling me about your clever, little trick. Even I couldn't have done it better.”

The Doctor uttered a sigh.

“Doctor, you have to make a decision.” Missy's voice sounded sincere and yet tired. “You can be a good boy and accept that you'll never get into Clara's knickers-”

“Don't say it like that!”

“Or you can decide to take action and pursue her properly. You've been friends for years, she knows all your annoying quirks and she's still sticking around. You mean something to that girl. Go out and show her that you have other qualities, too, that you can be a romantic, sappy idiot, show her that you're interested. Make her fall in love with you,” she told him.

He snorted. _Make her fall in love._ As if it was that easy. As if he could just click his fingers and Clara would magically discover her feelings for him.

“Okay, tell me, what did you do after she saved you from standing outside in the rain all day?” Missy wanted to know.

A sudden smile spread across his face at the memory of it. Despite the cold feeling in his bones and the remainder of his guilt, it had turned into a wonderful afternoon and evening. They had wrapped themselves up in blankets and talked for hours and when Clara had complained about being hungry, the Doctor had opened a bottle of wine and cooked them a meal. It had been 10 pm when Clara had eventually realized that her clothes had long dried.

“See, you're on the right path,” his friend determined. “And you have the advantage of knowing exactly what she likes. Use it!”

Maybe Missy wasn't so wrong after all. The Doctor certainly wouldn't go as far as to tell her about his feelings straight away, but there was no harm in wooing her just a little. After all, he enjoyed cooking for her and bringing a smile to her face. But that didn't mean he had to resort to sabotaging any more of her dates.

“Alright,” Missy sighed. “Since we've cleared that up, you and I can both go to sleep now.” 

The Doctor's gaze wandered to his guitar and even though it was late, he didn't quite feel like sleeping yet. “Goodnight, Missy,” he replied and hung up. He would stay up for a while longer.

* * *

Clara sipped her cocktail and took a look around the room. The club was quiet, but it wasn't unusual given that it was an ordinary weekday. Luckily for her, it was a weekday during the Easter holidays and tomorrow, she could sleep in for as long as she wanted and cure the hangover she would definitely have.

“That guy over there is definitely checking you out,” Amy remarked and nodded towards a corner. They had decided to use the opportunity for a night out – just the two of them – and Clara was grateful that she wouldn't have to watch Amy and Rory snog all night.  
Clara glanced at the guy and realized that her friend was right when the young man granted her a shy smile.

“Good for him,” she replied and turned towards the drink in her hand again.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go over and say hi!”

Clara took a large sip from her glass before she replied. “Oh no. If he wants something, he'll have to come over. I'm done chasing men for now.”

Even in the flickering light of the club, she could see that her friend was raising her eyebrows at her. Clara hadn't told Amy about the failed date with Scott yet because all she really wanted was to forget about it altogether.

“Where's that coming from?” she wanted to know.

“It's coming from me,” Clara replied determinedly and then stopped. “Well, it was something the Doctor said to me. He asked why I was trying so hard and I couldn't say. He's right. I should let the men come to me for a change.”

“That one over there looks a little shy,” Amy remarked.

“That's his problem and not mine.”

While Clara was finishing her drink, she became increasingly aware of the fact that her friend was watching her curiously and she could tell that it wouldn't be long until Amy started asking questions.

“You never told me about how that date with Scott went,” Amy said after a while. “But judging from your current attitude, I'd say not well.”

“Damn right it didn't go well,” Clara spat. She had kept her anger bottled up for a week, but forgetting about it wasn't really working out for her, so she decided to vent some of her fury. “He's an arse! Somehow, he got the ridiculous idea that the Doctor and I have something going on and whenever I mentioned him during our date, Scott got really weird. I just sat there and couldn't say anything without making him angry. I can't date someone who doesn't accept that the Doctor is my best friend!”

“You talk about the Doctor during your dates?” Amy asked, the disbelief audible in her voice. Then her face lined in a frown. “Hang on, I thought _I_ was your best friend?”

“You're my best female friend,” Clara reassured her calmly. “And the Doctor is my best male friend, so of course I talk about him. Why is that such a big deal? Why would Scott assume that I'm in love with him just because I go travelling with my friend and talk about him? Do guys still have this insane idea that members of the opposite sex can't be friends without wanting to sleep with each other?!”

“Slow down, I've had one tequila shot too many for this,” Amy interrupted her rant. “So, you went on a date with Scott and he said he thinks you're sleeping with the Doctor?”

“No,” she growled. “He said he thinks I'm in love with him which is equally insane.”

“Is it?” her friend asked blatantly.

“ _What?!_ ”

“Yeah, I mean, come on,” Amy replied with a sigh. “You're like constantly hanging out, you travel together, you shared a bed after my birthday party. The two of you are insanely close, almost inseparable. Personally, I assumed you've had a crush on him for years.”

“Why would you assume that?!”

“The Doctor is cute and he has amazing hair. I always thought he has a sort of _rockstar vibe_ , so I really wouldn't blame you for fancying him just a little,” her friend said.

Clara felt the heat rise into her cheeks, but she wasn't quite sure if it was because of the alcohol or because Amy had suddenly hit a nerve. She really wasn't wrong. The Doctor was attractive, but that didn't mean she fancied him or had a crush.

“I admit that he's attractive, but that doesn't mean I'm in love with him!” Clara replied defensively. “He's my best friend!”

Her friend raised her eyebrows and that was all Clara needed to know that she didn't believe a single word.

“So you admit that he's attractive?” Amy asked.

Clara nodded. “Yeah, but-”

“And when you came here with me tonight, you thought you'd rather have a quiet evening with him.”

She opened her mouth to deny it, but it would have been a lie. Clara would choose the Doctor over a night of clubbing any day.

“You can't stop talking about him even while you're on a date with another man.”

At that, Clara blushed a little more. She had never really thought about it before, but right now, it really didn't seem like a clever idea to mention how close she and the Doctor were on a first date. Naturally, some guys might get the wrong end of the stick.

“And when you're browsing that dating app, you choose guys who you think have the same qualities as the Doctor.”

“Well, they're not bad qualities to have,” Clara argued. “I mean, I would like a guy who is reliable.”

Suddenly, Amy granted her a soft smile. “Are you perfectly sure that you're not even a tiny bit in love with him?”

“Yes,” Clara hissed, but she wasn't quite sure how convincing it sounded. It had been easy to dismiss Scott's crazy accusations, but when they came from Amy, Clara suddenly wasn't so certain anymore. The Doctor was a big part of her life. Could she really fall in love and not realize it at all? Well, the club certainly wasn't the place to try to figure out her love life. “You know what else I'm perfectly sure of? That my glass in empty and I need another drink.”

Amy inhaled deeply. “I'm with you on that.”

Together, they made their way towards the bar and as Clara passed the young man in the corner, she again started to wonder if maybe there was some truth behind Amy's words because she wasn't interested in the shy stranger at all while all her thoughts circled around the Doctor.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your lovely comments. Yes, Clara is unsure about her feelings, but will she go too far in her confusion?

The Doctor's face turned into a frown when the phone rang next to him. Just to make sure he hadn't read the time wrong the last time he had checked, he glanced at the clock on his wall, only to realize that it was already two in the morning. Then his gaze wandered back to the name on the phone display and he reached for the device in an instant.

“Clara, is everything alright?” he asked, the panic audible in his voice. She usually never called so late.

“Yeah, everything's fine,” she replied. There was a lot of muffled noise in the background and her voice sounded a little different. “I was just wondering whether you're still up. You know, you being the incorrigible owl and all.”

“I, uh, I am,” the Doctor said, growing more and more confused by the second. Something wasn't quite right. He could feel it. “Where are you?”

“Clubbing with Amy,” Clara explained. “About to go home.”

His heart sank into his boots when he looked at the empty bottle of beer on his coffee table. “You don't need me to pick you up, do you? I just had a beer, I wouldn't feel comfortable-”

“No worries. Rory is picking us up after his shift,” she replied quickly. “I was just wondering-”

For some reason, Clara broke off and the Doctor wasn't quite sure whether it was because she was hesitant to say what she had called to say or whether something at the club had interrupted her. It did sound rather noisy on the other end.

“Yes?”

Despite the music and deafening bass, he could hear Clara take a deep breath. “Can I still come over or do you wanna go to bed?”

The Doctor couldn't help but scoff. “Are you drunk?”

“No!” Clara answered immediately, then paused. “Well, maybe a little. So, bed or hang out with Clara?”

The Doctor wasn't quite sure what to respond. He felt confused and he had no idea why Clara wanted to see him, why she would want to come here at this time of night, but it wasn't as if he could just go to bed and sleep after this strange phone call.

“Hang out with Clara,” he said and smiled into the phone.

“I'll be there in a bit,” she promised. “Don't fall asleep.”

“Wouldn't dream of it,” he replied and suddenly, his heart skipped a little beat. The Doctor knew that he shouldn't even get his hopes up, but the fact that Clara was having a fun night out with her friend and still thought of him just stirred something in him. And he was really looking forward to seeing her.

* * *

The night was one of the strangest Clara had ever had. From the conversation with Amy to the looks she had received when she had told Rory to drop her off at the Doctor's house instead of her own flat and now that she was standing on his doorstep, Clara suddenly felt nervous. She couldn't even say why that was. Maybe it was the alcohol leaving her system that was making her jittery, maybe it was the fact that she was starting to get hungry – or maybe it was because she was about to determine whether she had feelings for the Doctor that went beyond friendship, but Clara was certain that she had never felt so nervous in her entire life.

When the door opened, the Doctor greeted her with a broad smile. He was wearing his favourite pair of plaid trousers and that holey jumper that he loved so much and as she looked at him, Clara's heart suddenly skipped a beat. But that didn't mean anything. It was just because of the silly idea Amy had put in her head.

“Hey, party animal,” he said, chuckling. “Wanna come in?”

Clara couldn't get a single word out, so instead, she simply nodded and stepped past the Doctor and into the house. For some reason, she had always felt comfortable here. It was the soft lighting in the rooms and the bookshelves that lined all the walls and the cosy sofa and armchairs. Clara dropped her coat over one of the chairs and plopped down on the sofa.

“Do you want a cup of tea or coffee or-” the Doctor broke off when he turned around and looked at her and it didn't slip Clara's notice that his gaze lingered on her for just a moment longer than it usually did. She blushed when she remembered what sort of dress she was wearing and how revealing it was. Maybe Amy was right about that, too. Maybe he did notice her looks after all.

“Tea would be great,” she replied. “Coffee and alcohol always makes me, well, the opposite of sleepy.”

When the Doctor left the room to enter the kitchen, Clara took a deep, long breath. Why was she even nervous at all? It was only the Doctor. It was her best friend and she had known him for years. There was no reason at all to be nervous.

But there was and Clara was all too aware of it. If she discovered that she indeed had feelings for him, everything would change. Could they continue to be friends? Would it freak him out? Would he make fun of her?

Again, Clara inhaled deeply. There was no reason to panic already. She hadn't even figured out her feelings yet.

 

Not knowing what else to do, Clara followed him into the kitchen, but as she realized that he was still busy preparing the tea and sorting a couple of biscuits on a plate, she stopped in the doorframe and used the opportunity to get a proper look at him.

Amy was definitely right about his hair. Clara had always loved the look of his unruly silver curls and suddenly, she found herself wondering what they would feel like if she ran her fingers through them. When Clara lowered her gaze, she couldn't help the smirk that spread across her lips. She had never really taken notice of it before, but the Doctor was certainly nicely built. He was tall, had broad shoulders and even his little tummy had a certain appeal all of a sudden. There was really no denying that he was attractive and right now, Clara wondered if his arms were as strong as they looked. The longer she looked, the more she became aware of a faint tingling sensation in her abdomen that told her she was most definitely attracted to him. But was she in love? Clara couldn't say.

“What are you looking at?”

His voice tore her from her thoughts and Clara looked up to stare right into the Doctor's face. She blushed again.

“I, uh-” she stammered in response and her cheeks felt as if they were starting to burn. She really was attracted to him. “Just waiting.”

“Good,” the Doctor replied with a smile and then handed her a steaming mug. “Tea's ready.”

They retreated to the sofa and for a long moment, Clara did nothing but wrap her hands around the mug to warm her fingers. Her mind, however, was elsewhere. How was she even going to figure out what exactly she felt for the Doctor? Just because the sight of him managed to turn her on a little didn't mean that she was in love. She hadn't had a boyfriend in years which meant that her sex life was non-existent, so it wasn't that big a surprise that she started looking at the nearest male, was it? But that had nothing to do with love.

“So, are you gonna tell me what brings you here at this time of night?” the Doctor enquired curiously.

Clara inhaled deeply and finally gathered up the courage to look at him. There was something utterly adorable about his smile and even though her heart was still running amok in her chest, it managed to ease her mind a little. He was the Doctor. There wasn't really anything she had to be afraid of in his presence.

She granted him a smile in return. “Well, I went out with Amy and this energy drink cocktail thingy kicked in and I'm really not tired. I just thought you might still be up.”

“Obviously, I was,” he replied, chuckling softly.

That sound somehow tugged at her insides and Clara still wasn't sure what it meant. She placed the tea mug aside and sat up straight, but averted her eyes.

“Are you sure that's all there is to it?” the Doctor asked carefully and Clara could feel his gaze on her even though she was too afraid to look back at him for the moment. “I'm sorry, but you seem a little. . . off.”

“It's nothing.”

“Really?” he enquired and when Clara finally looked at him, he seemed just as confused as she felt.

There was no way she could go to sleep tonight without having found out what exactly she felt for him and right now, she could think of only one way to do it. Before Clara could change her mind, she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Judging by your many sweet, amazing, kind comments, I seem to have hit a nerve there :D Thank you guys so much *big hug* Now, let's see what happens next. . .

For a moment, the Doctor felt like he was frozen to the spot. Clara's lips were touching his, his heart seemed to have either stopped or it was beating too fast for him to notice and his thoughts were running haywire. There was a tiny voice in his head that told him it was wrong, that Clara had had too much to drink, that she was confused, that this couldn't possibly happen, but he had waited four years for this exact moment and he was too weak to do the right thing.

When the Doctor parted his lips for her, he could feel Clara's tongue on his own, carefully testing just how far she could go and he responded the only way he knew how to. He kissed her back and he vowed to do so until he ran out of breath. His hands wandered to her head, cupping her cheeks to pull her just a little closer. Kissing Clara felt magnificent and it was so much better than he had imagined in his dreams. Her soft lips, that sweet taste, the feelings her kiss was rousing in him. The Doctor didn't think he had ever been so happy and he wanted this feeling to never end.

However, it lasted only a minute until Clara gently pushed him away and broke the kiss.

“Oh God,” she uttered nervously before she gasped for breath. Clara instantly put some distance between them and retreated to the far end of the sofa. “Oh dear God, I'm so sorry.”

“Clara-” the Doctor attempted to say even though he had no idea how that sentence would have ended. He felt confused and it was obvious that she felt the same, he didn't know what to do or what to say or what was happening, what had happened just now. That kiss had plunged his entire world into chaos.

“No, don't say it!” Clara interrupted him quickly and jumped up from her seat. Their eyes never met because Clara's gaze was fixed on the floor. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. Please. Please, just forget about it.”

The Doctor didn't want to forget. He wanted to do anything but. He just wanted to keep kissing her until the end of his life.

“I- I-,” she stammered, but then seemed to regain her speech. “I should go.”

“Out of the question,” the Doctor replied sharply. He, too, was finally coming back to his senses and he was beginning to realize just what had happened.

In response, Clara finally raised her head and frowned at him. “I'm an adult. You can hardly keep me here against my will.”

The Doctor rose from the sofa and took a step towards Clara, but she evaded him. Somehow, he thought that she looked even smaller than usual. “No, I can't,” he replied softly. “But I also can't let you leave like this. It's 3 am.”

Clara was confused, she had been drinking at the club, he couldn't let her leave, no matter what had happened between the two of them, no matter his own feelings.

“I have a duty of care, remember?”

She chuckled softly and averted her eyes again. He always said that to her when they were travelling and he reminded her not to wander off and get lost. “I thought that was only when it comes to me potentially getting run over by an Italian car.”

“No,” he said with a sigh. “That includes taking care of you when you've had too much to drink. Take my bed, I'll sleep on the sofa.”

“Too much to drink, yeah,” Clara replied absent-mindedly. “That must be it.”

As much as the Doctor had hoped that there were true feelings behind her actions, he couldn't deny the simple truth when it was in front of his eyes. Clara hadn't really meant to kiss him and he knew it. She was having a rough time dealing with her failing dates, she had just needed some sort of consolation.

“Let's go to sleep, alright?” he asked carefully and granted her a smile, dearly hoping that it seemed sincere because even though he tried to appear cheerful on the outside, inside him, his heart was breaking just a little. He had been so close and now, the moment was gone along with his hope.

Clara nodded reluctantly and the Doctor realized for good that something like their kiss would never happen again.

* * *

When Clara opened her eyes, she was surprised to find that her headache was rather mild considering the fact that cocktails usually gave her a nasty hangover, but still, she didn't actually have the intention of leaving her bed anytime soon, not when for once, she could sleep in for as long as she liked.

However, when Clara turned on her side, she suddenly became highly alert. Not her bed. Not her bedroom. Not even her flat. She was in the Doctor's house.

Clara sat up with a start when the memories of last night came back to her and her heart sank when she remembered what she had done. The conversation with Amy had put the seed of doubt into her head and it had prompted her to actually kiss the Doctor. She had kissed him, her best friend. And she had enjoyed it.

“Oh God,” Clara uttered when she realized what a mess she had made of their friendship and it had all been for nothing.

Clara still didn't know whether she had feelings for him or not, the kiss hadn't managed to clear that up for her at all. If anything, it had only confused her more. The Doctor was her best friend and the love she felt for him had been there for years, but was it the same kind of love she would feel for a partner, a boyfriend? He was attractive and last night, she had definitely been attracted to him, but what did it mean? Was it permanent? Was it the spur of the moment? Her own confusing? Was she so desperate after all those failed dates? Was the alcohol to blame for it? Why had she enjoyed kissing him so much?

And most importantly, what would happen now?

 

Knowing that the only option she had to find out what was happening was to talk to the man himself, Clara threw the duvet aside and carefully made her way out of the bedroom. The rest of the flat was dark and the living room was empty, so Clara stepped through to the kitchen, only to find that the breakfast table had already been set. On the single plate, she spotted a note and went to pick it up.

_Good morning,_  
_had to open the record shop, but I thought you might like some breakfast. Croissants are fresh and coffee is only one flick of a switch away. Aspirin is in the bathroom cupboard if you need some._

_The Doctor_

Clara uttered a heavy sigh after reading those words. She couldn't really tell whether the Doctor was mad at her or not, but she knew that she would have to apologize to him again and convince him that something like that would never happen again. And then she had to hope that she would have the sense to resist any further temptation. Clara couldn't allow to let something as silly as this ruin the best friendship she had ever had.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your sweet comments! I can see that you're impatient with this story, but we haven't even reached the middle yet and some twists are yet to come ;) But for now, let's see how they both deal with the aftermath of their kiss.

Normally, the Doctor didn't mind a quiet day at work, at least it left him with some time to play the guitar or sort a new delivery, but today, his guitar was propped up in a corner and there were no new records to sort and it gave him too much time to think about Clara and everything that had happened last night. He just didn't know what to make of it at all. Last night, the Doctor had been sure that the kiss meant nothing at all, but the more time passed, the more his fears mingled with hope and now, he was utterly clueless.

Not knowing what else to do, the Doctor picked up his phone and decided that a woman's opinion was needed. And he only knew one other woman apart from Clara and she would freak out as soon as she heard the news.

“I'm at work right now, dealing with guys who are sending unwanted dick pics, so this better be something good,” Missy said as soon as she answered the phone.

“We kissed!” the Doctor blurted out immediately, unable to hold it back for another second. “Well, Clara kissed me. I kissed back. We. . . we. . . well, we kissed. Last night.”

“Well, look at that,” Missy replied, sounding more than just a little pleased with the new revelation. “Seems the girl is into you after all.”

“I'm not so sure about that,” he said, followed by a sigh. “She came by last night after she went clubbing with her friend. She was quite rattled and she had been drinking. And she apologized after and. . . I don't know. I have no idea what it means.”

His friend sniggered on the other end of the line. “Sounds to me as if someone wanted to get laid and then chickened out. I mean, she came to you what I assume was in the middle of the night. I can think of only one reason why someone would do that.”

“That's not what happened!” the Doctor insisted sternly. “I mean, she was really confused and nervous and-”

“And she chickened out.”

“What do I do, Missy?” he asked in despair. “I never thought this would happen. I don't have a plan for this. I don't know what to do!”

He heard his friend take a deep breath and he couldn't understand how Missy was remaining so calm while he was freaking out completely. “You have a plan and you're gonna stick to it. Trust me, a woman doesn't kiss a man unless, deep down, she wants to.”

“Well, she was a little drunk,” he argued.

“Doctor, there's isn't enough alcohol on this planet that could make me want to snog you,” she snapped.

He frowned in response. “You did snog me once.”

“Yeah, the look on your face when I did is a memory I'll treasure forever. Same goes for the look on Clara's face.” Missy chuckled. “Ah, fun times.”

The Doctor exhaled sharply. He wanted to believe Missy, he wanted to believe that there was something there, but what if he got his hopes up for nothing at all? What if it broke his heart in the end?

“Stick to the plan, Doctor,” she reminded him. “You're on the right path, trust me.”

He growled into the phone. “Fine,” the Doctor hissed and then remembered something Missy had said at the beginning of their conversation. “What are dick pics though?”

“Trust me, you don't wanna know.

The little bell above the shop door rang and when the Doctor looked up, his heart skipped a beat. Clara stepped inside, a shy smile on her face and two cups of coffee in her hand.

“I, uh, I have to go,” he said into the phone. “Talk to you later.”

“Don't do anything naughty on the records. They break easily.”

 

The Doctor hung up and put the phone aside without even dignifying that with an answer and looked at Clara who seemed just as insecure as he felt. It didn't matter if what Missy had told him was true. Right now, he only hoped that the kiss last night hadn't ruined their friendship.

“I brought coffee,” Clara said as she set the cups down on the desk. “You didn't exactly get a lot of sleep thanks to my late night visit, so-”

“It's okay,” the Doctor reassured her. “You know I don't sleep much anyway.”

A silence spread between the two of them and just to have something to do, the Doctor reached for the coffee and took a careful sip. One of them would have to say something soon or he would die from the sheer awkwardness of the situation and suddenly, he felt the urge to apologize to her. However, Clara did before he even had the chance.

“I'm sorry about last night,” she blurted out. “First of all, I shouldn't have disturbed you so late when you have work the next day.”

“That's okay, really.”

“Second, the kiss was completely out of line and I'm still not sure what got into me last night. I was still mad about Scott and then there was alcohol and Amy said a thing and I-” Clara broke off and when she looked at him, her eyes were pleading for forgiveness. “I'm sorry.”

The Doctor scoffed softly and granted her a smile. “I should apologize, too.”

In response, Clara knitted her eyebrows at him. “Why do _you_ need to apologize?”  
He took a deep breath before he spoke, trying to gather his thoughts. Even if there was never going to be another kiss, even if it was all for nothing, Missy was right. If he didn't try, he would never have a chance with Clara. “Well, I didn't exactly push you away. You kinda caught me off guard and I didn't think. You were drinking, you were confused, I shouldn't have taken advantage of that.”

“So, we're good?” Clara asked reluctantly. “No weirdness between us? No hard feelings Everything's back to normal?”

The smile on his face widened a little. “Yes,” he confirmed.

Clara breathed a sigh of relief as she sank down on her usual stool and took a large sip of her coffee.

“Thanks for letting me stay last night, by the way,” she said after a while and her usual cheerfulness had returned to her voice. “And for breakfast. That jam was amazing.”

The Doctor chuckled. “I like that jam, too.”

“ _Liked_ ,” Clara corrected him. “I'm afraid you're out cause I ate it all.”

“Jam thief,” he growled playfully and Clara grinned at him in response. But then he suddenly remembered something she had said only moments ago and his features grew a little more serious. “What exactly did Amy say to you last night? It wasn't anything mean, was it?”

“No, not really,” she said with a sigh and continued to drink her coffee. “It's just, well, it's a little weird again. She basically said I couldn't find a boyfriend because of you.”

The Doctor felt something tug at his insides and the guilty conscience came crashing down on him once again. Amy wasn't entirely wrong.

“Why?” he asked nervously. “What did she say?”

Clara huffed. “She said I was comparing the men to you, that I was looking for someone like you, but-” she paused and then raised her head to look at him. “That's not weird, is it?”

The Doctor gave a soft shrug. He had no idea what to say to that if he was completely honest. “I don't know. I guess not. I mean, you should be looking for a guy you have stuff in common with.”

“That's basically what I thought.”

“Besides, I'm a catch. Those boys just can't compete,” he joked and Clara giggled for a moment, but then her features grew serious again. The Doctor frowned at her. “Was that all she said?”

For a tiny moment, Clara hesitated and it was all he needed to know that there was something else, but Clara shook her head. “Yeah, that's all,” she replied nervously. She was lying, but it was obvious that she didn't want to talk about the rest. The Doctor decided not to push it.

He didn't have to chance to say anything in return when suddenly, Clara leaned forward and flung her arms around his chest in a surprise hug. His body reacted just like it had reacted to the kiss last night. He froze and his heart was beginning to hammer inside his chest.

“Uhm, what are you doing?” he asked.

“Hugging you,” Clara said and chuckled. “I thought you'd have gotten used to it after four years.”

In response, the Doctor closed his arms around her back. It wasn't that he still wasn't used to the physical contact. The problem was that whenever she hugged him, the Doctor was reminded that he wanted so much more than just that.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for your lovely comments!!!

Clara was staring at the screen in front of her and wondered if people could actually die of boredom. If that was possible, she was probably in terrible danger because the movie was one of the worst things she had witnessed in a long time. The characters were dull and the plot grew more obscure by the minute. After checking her watch, Clara realized to her dismay that they had only been here for half an hour.

“Did I miss something important or does that movie not really make any sense at all?” the Doctor suddenly whispered into her ear and Clara started to chuckle.

“I thought I was the only one thinking that.”

“Oh no,” he reassured her, “it's pointless. I mean, didn't she catch him cheating on her with her stepmother at the beginning of the movie?”

“Yes,” Clara confirmed. “Nothing in the world would've made me go on a romantic holiday with him. That relationship can't be fixed if he cheats with her mother.”

“And they should have realized something was off when the receptionist locked them in in their hotel room. And why go out to dinner with that other weird couple?”

“Maybe it's that horror movie logic that I never understood,” she remarked.

“Excuse me,” a voice said from behind them and suddenly, Clara felt the breath of another viewer on her neck. “Some people are actually here to watch. So if you could keep it down, that would be great.”

In response, the Doctor turned around and let his gaze wander across the room. “Look at that. They seem actually interested in this.”

“Huh,” Clara uttered and took a quick look. “You're right.”

They both turned back to face the screen, but Clara could no longer take the movie seriously knowing that the Doctor felt just as bored and confused. Originally, they had come here to watch a different film, but it had been booked out completely and so they had picked a different one just judging from the title. Clara made a mental note to never do that again.

“I bet half of them are here because they fancy the lead actor,” the Doctor growled. “It's like that time you made me watch that terrible movie because you liked the actor.”

Clara chuckled in response. “Yeah, but he was hot. This guy looks like he only just hatched. He doesn't even look old enough to have been married for five years.”

“Maybe their parents arranged the wedding and they tied the knot at sixteen,” he argued.

“That explains why he's screwing the stepmother.”

The Doctor turned his head to look at her. “No, it doesn't.”

She laughed at him. “Hey, at least I'm trying to make sense of this. . . nonsense.”

“And we're trying to watch the movie,” the man behind them spoke again. Now, his voice was sharp and he sounded angry. “Can you shut up for another hour? You're ruining the mood!”

“Sorry,” Clara mumbled, but when she turned to look at the screen again, she couldn't hold back any longer. She burst into laughter. “Oh my God, this movie sucks.”

“I'm with you on that.”

The man behind them got out of his chair and for a moment, Clara expected him to start making a fuss, but instead, he merely walked out.

The Doctor shrugged, chuckling. “Guess he didn't like the movie so much after all.”

“I wonder if anyone here does. Also, where did the stepmother come from just now?”

“Oh, I think that's a supposed to be a dream,” he explained and Clara watched the stepmother on screen strip out of her clothes. “Or a nightmare, depending on your point of view.”

Suddenly, Clara became aware of a presence next to her and when she turned around, she spotted the silhouette of the man who had asked them to be quiet – next to a member of the cinema staff.

“I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to either be quiet or leave the cinema. You're disturbing the other viewers,” the young man said.

Next to her, the Doctor blew the air out of his lungs. “Leaving sounds like an excellent idea, to be honest,” he replied and rose from his seat.

Clara couldn't help but agree.

* * *

“Just to be clear, I'm gonna pick the next movie,” the Doctor said and stuffed a handful of popcorn into his mouth. They had left the cinema and chosen to finish the rest of the snacks outside on a bench by the Thames. If he was completely honest, he even preferred this to watching a film with Clara.

“Deal,” she agreed and reached into the popcorn bag as well.

He watched her lean against the backrest while she breathed in deeply. “It's nice out here. Much nicer than inside,” she remarked. “I love those early summer evenings.”

“So do I,” he said.

Clara took another deep breath. “Can you smell that? It even smells like summer already.”

In response, the Doctor scoffed. “I think what you're smelling is pollution, dirty water and fat from that fish 'n chips shop over there.”

“How romantic,” Clara said dryly and continued to eat her popcorn.

The Doctor internally scolded himself. He was trying to be romantic, taking Clara out on “dates”, being a gentleman, but so far, she didn't seem to have noticed. And she hadn't kissed him again either. Some days, the Doctor doubted that there would be a repeat, but on others, he thought he could feel that Clara was enjoying his attention.

Then suddenly, her phone started to buzz and Clara pulled it out of her purse to check her messages. For some reason, she smiled at the phone.

“Good news?” the Doctor asked carefully. He was always wary when Clara was smiling at something or someone other than him.

She chuckled. “Not really,” she replied. “Well, maybe a little. It's just this dating app.”

“I thought you wanted to let the men come to you?” he asked and his voice sounded sharper than he had intended. She hadn't mentioned that app in weeks, she had stayed away from men since Scott and the Doctor had started to feel safe from the competition of other men. Apparently, he had been wrong.

“It's not a man,” she replied with a big grin on her face. “I found this woman online and we've been chatting for a few days. I'm still determined to let the men come to me, but I never said anything about not dating women in the meantime.”

The Doctor's mouth fell open and for a moment, he couldn't even find the words to reply. A brief image of Clara with another woman entered his mind, but he quickly brushed it aside. When he finally found his speech again, his face turned into a frown. “You never said that was an option,” he spluttered nervously.

Clara turned to look at him and granted him a smile. “Well, I usually go for men, but I'm not actually averse to dating women. When I started going to uni, I had a thing with this girl called Nina and I thought since men haven't been working out for me lately, I could give that another shot.”

The image returned to his head no matter how hard the Doctor tried to fight it and even though the jealousy was beginning to boil up in him, he wasn't averse to this idea either.

“You never told me about that,” he replied and suddenly, his mouth felt a little dry.

Clara squinted her eyes at him. “I don't advertise it,” she replied, her eyes never leaving him. Then suddenly, she reached out and pinched him. “Stop picturing it!”

“Ow!” the Doctor howled. “I didn't. . . I wasn't-”

“You were so picturing it.”

The Doctor quickly averted his gaze because Clara was more than right about that. He had indeed pictured it and it was an image that was going to haunt him for a while longer.

“Anyway, I don't think I could be with a woman long-term, but that's not what this is about. Dating is supposed to be fun and I really need that. My latest attempts went horribly wrong and I could really use just one date that goes well, one date that makes me feel good about myself.”

“Aren't you feeling good about yourself at all?” he asked quietly. Had the Doctor's attempts been for nothing?

Clara smiled at him. “I do and mainly, it's because of you,” she reassured him. “But you know me. Some extra attention can't hurt.”

When Clara grinned at him, the Doctor knew that he shouldn't be jealous. Right now, she wasn't even looking for anything serious, but that didn't mean he had to feel entirely good about it either.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for your comments! And you're absolutely right. The Doctor needs to do something about Clara's date.

When the doorbell rang, a frown appeared on the Doctor's face. He didn't have plans with Clara today and Missy usually gave him a warning before stopping by to avoid running into Clara. He wasn't quite sure why the two women didn't like each other, but as he made his way towards the door, the Doctor decided that this wasn't the moment to ponder that particular matter. Once he answered the door, someone thrust a tower pc into his hands and he only just managed to hold on to the large computer before dropping it.

“What-”

“I need your help,” Missy said. “I fried my mainboard and I need help installing the new one.”

Before the Doctor had a chance to reply, Missy made his way into his house and he had no other choice but to follow her. Not knowing what else to do with it, he dropped the computer on his kitchen table.

“Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we take the same computer science class at uni?” the Doctor asked. “You should be able to change the mainboard by yourself. In fact, I'm fairly certain you've done that a few times already.”

Missy shrugged. “Oh, so what? I'm too lazy to do it myself right now and you owe me for helping you with your love life.”

“Yeah,” the Doctor breathed, frowning at his oldest friend, “I think you missed the part where I never asked for your help and said it was a terrible thing to do.”

From one moment to the next, the expression on Missy's face changed and she was looking at him through puppy dog eyes. Well, he sort of did owe her. Maybe not for the meddling part, but he certainly owed her for constantly complaining about his non-existent love life.

“Fine,” he hissed and went to open the computer. “Will you pass me the screwdriver from the cutlery drawer?”

As he removed the main memory, he heard some rattling as Missy went through his drawer and a few moments later, she handed him the screwdriver he had asked for.

“Speaking of love life, how's that going for you?” she asked curiously.

The Doctor sighed as he loosened the graphics board. “I'm so low down on the list of potential partners that Clara decided to date women. Couldn't go better,” he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Mhhh,” Missy hummed. “Clara Oswald, who would've thought? Do you think she might be into sexy women in their best years who have a nice, Scottish accent?”

The Doctor raised his head and glowered at Missy. “Not helping.”

In response, his friend rolled her eyes. “You don't like me helping, you don't like me not helping. You're very hard to please, you know?”

 

The Doctor decided to do what was best for his own sanity and ignore Missy while he was working on changing the main board. It took him a while, but eventually, all the components were installed and hopefully, working. He closed the casing and joined Missy in the living room who had made herself comfortable with a cup of tea and his laptop.

“I found the woman Clara is texting,” Missy announced proudly.

Glaring at her, the Doctor sank down into the seat next to her. “Do I even wanna know how?”

“Oh, that's easy,” she explained. “I just logged into my employee account and checked what Clara Oswald has been up to lately. I have to say, she's got good taste.”

Missy turned the laptop around to show him a photo of a young woman called Marina. If it hadn't been for his jealousy, the Doctor would have even admitted that she was pretty.

“I'm afraid you need to up your game,” Missy said.

A terrible idea crossed his mind, an idea he really, really shouldn't have. Missy was here, he had access to all of Clara's conversations, had the names of everyone she talked to on her dating app and it wasn't as if Missy hadn't done it before.

But he shouldn't, he couldn't.

“Or you could, you know,” his friend suggested carefully, “get rid of the unwanted competition in a single message.”

“No,” he growled. “Besides, Clara isn't looking for something long-term. She just wants to have one pleasant dating experience. There's nothing wrong with that.”

“Yes, there is,” she argued. “ _You_ want to be that pleasant dating experience and you know it.”

Missy was right. Damn, she was always right. The Doctor was jealous, he didn't want Clara to meet with that woman, no matter how casual it was.

“Clara deserves this,” he replied, but his voice already sounded weak.

His friend must have sensed it because a moment later, she slid the laptop in his direction, a mischievous smile on her face.

“One message, Doctor,” she told him. “You can write whatever you wanna write.”

* * *

“He's gonna move in with you?!”

Amy nodded, unable to hide that big grin on her face and even though the fact that she couldn't even get a single date right still stung a little, Clara was happy for her friend. She leaned forward and gave Amy a big, tight hug.

“I'm so happy for you,” she said sincerely before she released her friend from the embrace. “And nice move. Better hold on tight to that one.”

Amy was still smiling happily and nodded again in reply. “Yeah, Rory is the one, I can feel it. And once we're living together, we're gonna throw a big party to celebrate the occasion and we're gonna invite some of Rory's nicer colleagues especially for you.”

Clara granted her a weak smile in response. “Are you sure those guys exist? Cause I'm beginning to lose hope.”

“Still nothing on the app?” her friend enquired.

With a sigh, Clara leaned back into the sofa cushions. “I've been taking a break from that. I only recently started texting this girl and she's sweet and nice and-” Clara broke off and blew the air out of her lungs. When she spoke again, the defeat was audible in her voice. “And I'm totally just texting her to boost my bruised self-esteem. I think I'm becoming desperate.”

“Don't,” Amy told her softly. “Just think about how many idiots I went through before I found Rory. Remember how long I pined after the bowtie guy?”

“Vividly,” she remarked.

“So there's no news in the love department at all?”

Clara bit down on her lip when Amy asked because there was one thing she hadn't told her friend, something that had happened a while ago but was somehow still on her mind. She hadn't yet answered the question of whether she had romantic feelings for the Doctor or not and as long as she didn't know, Clara hadn't wanted to confide in Amy. But maybe that was what she needed to do. Maybe she needed a second opinion.

“Well, there was. . . something,” she replied hesitantly.

“Okay,” Amy said curiously. “Out with it.”

Clara inhaled deeply and raised her head to look at her friend. “Remember that night we went to the club and I told Rory to drop me off at the Doctor's house?”

“Honestly? Not really.”

“Well, I went to see the Doctor after our conversation,” she admitted.

Suddenly, Amy's face lined in a frown. “You mean the one where I asked whether you had feelings for him?”

Clara nodded. “That's the one,” she confirmed. “Well, I went to see him and then I. . . kissed him.”

“ _You kissed the Doctor?!_ ” her friend almost shouted at her. “Okay, let me rephrase that. You kissed the Doctor over a month ago and you didn't tell me?!”

She sighed in response. How could she possibly tell Amy when she didn't even understand it herself. “Honestly, I don't know why I did it. I think I wanted to put your theory to the test, see if I have feelings for him.”

“And do you?”

Clara shrugged. “I don't know,” she admitted.

Amy straightened herself up and Clara knew that a long conversation and analysis were to follow. “Well, how did the kiss make you feel?”

“Confused mostly,” she said. “I was really nervous before I did it, the sort of butterfly-in-stomach, shaking-hands-and-knees nervous. But the kiss itself was, well, let's just say not what I expected.”

“Alright, I'm gonna need more details here. How was it and how was it not what you expected?”

She inhaled deeply, trying to conjure up the memory of that night and even now, Clara could still feel that tingling in her belly, that tugging sensation. “It was-” she paused because she knew how silly it sounded. “I think it was the best kiss I've ever experienced. And the unexpected part was that the Doctor went for it. And when I say that, I mean he _really_ went for it, lots of tongue and hands touching my cheek kind of went for it.”

Amy raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Wow,” she uttered. “And what happened then? Wait, is this the part where you tell me you had sex with him?”

“No,” Clara denied immediately. “Then comes the part where I freaked out about how much I liked it, pushed him away, apologized and blamed it on the alcohol. And then he apologized for taking advantage of me and we agreed to act like it never happened in the first place which is what we've successfully been doing ever since.”

“And you're happy with that?” Amy asked doubtfully.

Clara huffed. “I don't know, Amy. I mean, the Doctor and I have so much in common, we're so much alike, isn't it just logical we would click in that department as well? That's probably all there is to it, but that doesn't necessarily have to mean I'm in love with him.”

Her friend rolled her eyes. “Or it means you're actually made for each other and you're both too blind to see it.”

“Well, he's pretending that the kiss never happened and as long as he doesn't say otherwise, we're gonna be friends,” Clara determined and drew her phone out of her purse. “Besides, I've got Marina to go on a date with tomorrow.”

However, when Clara opened the app to see whether Marina had replied with a time to meet, she found a surprise instead. The other girl's icon was blurred and a single line took the spot where the message option had formerly been. _You are blocked from messaging this user._

“She's blocked me,” Clara uttered in surprise, frowning at the phone while she did. Then she raised her head to look at Amy. “Why has she blocked me?”

Her friend merely shrugged. “Either you're cursed or fate didn't want you to date her.”

Grumpily, Clara dropped her phone back into her purse. _Fate_ could rot in hell.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see you're all still rooting for the Doctor and Clara to stop being idiots :D Thank you so much for the comments!
> 
> Now that half the story is behind us, let's see what the other half will bring ;)

When Clara opened the door to him, the Doctor thought he could smell food and a whiff of fear started to rise inside of him. Clara, as much as he loved her, was a terrible cook and he dreaded the prospect of sitting through one of her meals, pretending that he loved it even though it was burnt just to avoid hurting her feelings.

“Come in!” she told him happily, a wide smile on her face. “I made dinner.”

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her in response.

“Oh, don't look at me like that,” Clara said and gave him a soft nudge. “I made pasta, one of the few things I actually can cook. No need to worry.”

He blew the air out of his lungs in a pretend gesture of relief and stepped inside. Clara certainly hadn't lied as he soon realized from the neatly set table and the scent of a not-burnt meal that spread through the air. The Doctor sank down in a chair while Clara handed him a bottle of cold beer and suddenly, he started to wonder what this was all about. Also, it brought the guilty conscience back up in him because she was being nice and he knew that he certainly didn't deserve it after messing up another one of her dates. He really, really didn't deserve to be cooked for.

However, as he looked at her, the Doctor noticed that Clara didn't seem sad at all, so her failed date couldn't have hit her that hard, at least not like the last ones.

“Uhm, to what do I owe this meal?” he asked carefully.

Clara was still smiling when she sat down at the table, but she didn't reply and the Doctor decided to play the part of the clueless friend for a moment longer.

“Did your date with that girl go well?” he wanted to know.

Clara made a dismissive hand gesture. “The date didn't take place at all. She just blocked me for no reason,” she explained. “I guess that just wasn't supposed to be.”

“I'm sorry,” the Doctor muttered under his breath. He knew all too well that the reason was him and what he had told her.

“But I didn't ask you here to bitch about my love life,” Clara said, smiling again. “I asked you here for a nice meal.”

In response, the Doctor knitted his eyebrows once again. “You hate cooking.”

“It's just pasta,” she argued.

“You hate cooking something as simple as pasta. Baking you love, cooking not so much.”

With a defeated sigh, Clara let her shoulders sink. The Doctor knew that she had an ulterior motive and he was sure that it was only a matter of minutes only he found out exactly what it was.

“My bedroom wardrobe broke,” Clara admitted eventually.

And there it was.

“You should have said something, I would have brought my tools,” he said in reply.

“No, I think that old thing is beyond repair. Besides, I already have my eye on a new one,” she said carefully and then bit down on her lip. When the Doctor looked at her, he noticed that she was giving him puppy dog eyes and it took him a moment, but the realisation was beginning to dawn on him.

“Not that terrible Swedish labyrinth, please,” he begged.

“I'll be quick, I promise,” Clara said, now smiling at him again. “I already know what I want and I swear I don't need anything else. We'll just go in, grab the new wardrobe, head back to my place and. . . set it up.”

The Doctor uttered a soft growl, but how was he going to say no to her when she made the effort of cooking for him?

“You have a car, I don't. And your arms are stronger.”

“I hate that shop,” he muttered.

“Please?” Clara pleaded and looked at him with insanely big, dark eyes and as much as he would have loved to say no, that look on her face simply melted his heart.

He merely replied with a growl, but Clara knew that the answer was yes.

“Great,” she concluded. “Now, let's eat before it gets cold.”

She handed him the pot and the Doctor took it from her with a smile, knowing that he would most definitely regret agreeing to this.

* * *

When the Doctor had left, she had cleaned up and washed the dishes, Clara retreated to her sofa with a novel and a glass of wine, determined to relax for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow, she would have to face Courtney Woods for a double period and Clara was already dreading that experience.

However, once she had settled down, her phone buzzed on her table. Clara had half a mind to ignore it and leave whatever it was for tomorrow, but something compelled her to pick it up and check her messages straight away.

Clara spotted a message on MatchMaker and even though her hopes had long faded, she opened the app and found a surprise.

**NotSantaClaus**  
_I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for. It is, I believe, too little yielding – certainly too little for the convenience of the world._

Clara frowned at the strange introduction. Normally, men merely said hi or sent a brief description of themselves if they wanted to get to the point very quickly, but this was something she hadn't seen before. Of course, Clara recognized the quote. She had read _Pride and Prejudice_ too often not to recognize it and somehow, it sparked her curiosity a little. That and the odd username.

Clara tapped on his profile and was surprised to find it almost empty. He hadn't uploaded a photo or stated his age or profession. There was only a list of favourite books, movies, singers and interests. Nevertheless, it was enough to make her reply.

**ClaraOswald86**  
_Approaching an English teacher with a Jane Austen quote is a really unfair move. You knew I would have to reply._  
_Who are you, mysterious stranger without a profile picture?_

His reply came swift and it made her chuckle.

**NotSantaClaus**  
_Well, I can tell you this much. I am probably not Santa Claus._

**ClaraOswald86**  
_That sounds like something Santa Claus would say to throw me off the scent._

**NotSantaClaus**  
_Oh dear, you got me now :D Forgive me, I'm new to this app and the internet is a bit of an enigma to me. I'm not entirely comfortable with sharing my photo and real name._

Somehow, Clara thought that it was probably wiser to not talk to him any further. But there was a list of books and interests and it matched her own, so as long as they were only texting, there was not much that could go wrong.

**ClaraOswald86**  
_Why? Are you shy?_

**NotSantaClaus**  
_I'm either shy or a spy. Take your pick ;)_

**ClaraOswald86**  
_Alright, but you do realize that I'm going to call you Santa until you've told me your real name?_

**NotSantaClaus**  
_That's fine by me, ClaraOswald86_

Clara leaned back in her seat, still chuckling. Even though it probably wasn't going to lead anywhere, she was determined to enjoy this conversation as long as it amused her.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your sweet, amazing comments!!!! Let me give you a big group hug!
> 
> Now, I promised you more trouble. . . but what kind of trouble? Let's take a look. . .

“What happened to _I already know what I want_ and _I don't need anything else_?”

Clara turned to look at the Doctor and she could see the hint of terror in his eyes as she dragged him through the shop and she did feel a tiny bit guilty, but not guilty enough to put the candles and new pillow cases back and focus on the wardrobe. She comforted herself with the thought that he should have known better than to take her word for it because this wasn't their first trip to IKEA.

“Just a quick look at the bedroom section,” she promised. “Hey, how about you have a look as well instead of just being grumpy? You might spot a thing or two.”

The Doctor growled. “I have all the furniture I need.”

Clara snorted in reply. “Well, your coffee table has seen better days. And I'm fairly certain you could use some new things as well. Like pots. I'm sure you'll need a new pot.”

“I bought a new set of pots after someone conducted a cheese soup experiment.”

“Oh,” Clara uttered. That one was definitely on her. “Well, that was before I gave up the attempt to learn how to cook. But hey, we learned something from that experiment.”

“Yep,” he chuckled in response. “If you're ever out of glue, you can always use molten cheese after Clara Oswald's recipe.”

When she looked at the Doctor, Clara felt another wave of guilt coming up. The Doctor was always so sweet to her and even though it was often under protest, he did everything she asked him to, including facing his worst nightmare – which was IKEA. Sometimes, she felt as if she didn't appreciate him enough despite the fact that the meant the world to her.

“Alright, how about I find my wardrobe around here, see if it looks like it does online and then we can go?” she suggested, but Clara never heard his answer as a sharp pain suddenly shot through her ankle.

Her feet gave way under her and Clara was about to topple over, but the Doctor caught her at the last moment and held her steady.

“Ow,” she howled.

“Is everything alright?” the Doctor enquired immediately. His arm was wrapped around her waist, hands holding on to her in a firm yet gentle manner.

Clara inhaled deeply after the initial stab of pain had subsided, but her foot was still aching terribly. “Twisted my ankle a little,” she replied, wincing. That would certainly cut the IKEA visit short.

“Come, let's sit down for a bit,” he suggested and even before Clara could agree, the Doctor led her towards the nearest bed.

Clara sank down on the soft mattress and sighed when the pain started to recede. It was probably wise to put her feet up for a couple of minutes before they resumed their shopping.

“Thanks,” Clara said sincerely while the Doctor sat down next to her. She let her gaze wander to her feet and glowered at her pair of black and gold shoes. “That's it. I'm throwing those out.”

“I did wonder why you insisted on wearing those stilts,” he remarked.

“Well, they're pretty,” she replied sheepishly. “They're also murder weapons.”

“Is your ankle gonna be okay?” the Doctor asked. “I mean, I won't have to go back and get a cart, will I?”

“A cart?”

“Well, so you can sit down in the little kiddy seat.”

Clara laughed and leaned forward to nudge him. “Very funny,” she complained half-heartedly. “My ankle will be fine. Just give me a few minutes.”

“Okay,” the Doctor concluded and suddenly, he jumped up just to let himself fall back down in a proper position. His head sank into the pillows as he made himself comfortable in the IKEA bed. “This is a nice bedroom. Very rustic. I like it.”

She decided that while she was unable to walk, she might as well rest her foot properly and lay down next to the Doctor. From that position, she had a nice view on the rest of the display bedroom and Clara couldn't help but agree with him.

“It's indeed nice. I wonder if it would look as good in my room at home.”

“Don't.”

Clara turned around in bed right as the Doctor did the same and a moment later, they were facing each other. “Why not?” she asked, smiling at him.

“Cause I'll be the one who has to carry it all and set it up,” he argued.

“Mhhh, what if I cook for you in return?” Clara suggested.

The Doctor scoffed, laughing. “That's a threat, not a reward.”

“Alright,” she agreed eventually. “Just the wardrobe then.”

“Thank you,” he sighed, obviously relieved.

When then Doctor closed his eyes and sank deeper into the pillows, Clara remained smiling at him. He really was the sweetest man on this planet despite his often grumpy demeanour.

“What are you looking at?” he asked after a while.

“Thank _you_ ,” Clara said sincerely. “For coming along despite hating it, for helping me, for generally being the best.”

“You're welcome,” the Doctor mumbled but never opened his eyes.

Suddenly, Clara could feel that tingling again, that strange tugging sensation in her belly. She knew that she loved the Doctor with all her heart, but this was something else, this was infinitely stranger and more unnerving than the usual warm feeling of friendship that she felt for him. For a moment, she wondered what would happen if she just leaned forward and kissed him again like she had done that night. The mere idea that she could, brought a smile to her face. Even though they had agreed to forget about it, a part of her just couldn't do that even now. And the same part wanted to experience it again just to see what would happen.

Clara was torn out of her thoughts when her phone rang and from one moment to the next, the temptation was gone. What had she been thinking anyway? The Doctor wouldn't want to be kissed by her again, so she vowed to thank whoever had interrupted her.

“Something important?” the Doctor asked when Clara pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked her messages.

**NotSantaClaus**  
_A trip to IKEA, huh? Personally, I hate that shop. As a man, you're mainly there to carry the heavy things and watch your girlfriend or wife buy a bunch of things she said she didn't need._  
_Also, I thought about what you said about that poem and I think I'll have to read it again before giving you my revised opinion. Thank you for opening my mind, ClaraOswald86!_  
_Now, have you listened to the song I recommended in exchange?_

Clara smiled at the message from her mystery man who still hadn't come out with a name or a picture, but nevertheless, Clara had been talking to him for over a week now and she was enjoying their conversations more and more. They had so much to talk about, so much in common, not just the music and the books. He also liked travelling and when Clara had mentioned the Doctor to him, he had said that it was great to have a friend to travel with. He was the first man who didn't seem to mind him.

“So?” the Doctor asked.

Clara's head shot back up and quickly, she slid the phone back into her pocket. “Oh, nothing important,” she lied. “Just Amy.”

She wasn't sure why she was lying to the Doctor about her mystery man, why she hadn't mentioned him so far. Maybe it was because she had promised the Doctor to let it rest for a while, but she knew that it wasn't the case. Even though Clara hardly knew anything about this stranger, even though they had only exchanged messages, for some reason, she felt as if there was a connection between them that she hadn't felt with any other man except maybe with the Doctor. This one was different from the others she had met on MatchMaker. This one could be something serious and Clara really didn't want to jinx it.

“I think my ankle is feeling better,” she told him. “Wanna go grab that wardrobe and get the hell out of here?”

“God, yes!” the Doctor exclaimed in relief and jumped up from the mattress.

Clara scrambled back to her feet a little more slowly, but she had been right about her ankle. She granted the Doctor a smile before they started to resume their way through the Swedish labyrinth.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it Missy? Is it a stranger? The mystery continues. . .
> 
> Thank you guys so much for all your lovely comments :) Glad you're still enjoying it despite the slow burn.

“No further questions?” Clara asked, eyeing her class for a moment before clapping her hands together. “Okay, you have 45 minutes. Good luck!”

When her students lowered their heads and started scribbling the answers down on their sheets of paper, Clara decided to take a quick walk through the rows of desks to see that everyone kept to their own test and didn't have secret notes hidden somewhere. During her time as a teacher, Clara had come across a number of cheating methods, some of which were so creative she had almost considered letting it slide. Luckily for her students, Clara couldn't see any of the known tricks, so she walked up to her desk and sat down.

Knowing that she would have 45 minutes to herself, Clara considered reading her book, but when her phone vibrated on her desk, she realized that there was something she would rather do. Quickly, she picked it up to see what her mystery man had said.

**NotSantaClaus**  
_Good morning, ClaraOswald86. Last night, I had an idea. I thought about how much we have in common when it comes to music and films and books and I came to the conclusion that it is impossible. There has to be something that you like and I hate or the other way around and until I find what that is, I'm going to call you an impossible girl. Because that is what you are. I'm really starting to question your existence because the alternative would be to admit that I was extremely lucky to have found you._

Clara's heart skipped a little beat when she read his words. She still didn't know who her mystery man was but with every passing day, she became more and more curious to find out. He was perfect. He was the impossible one. Clara smiled at her phone before she replied.

**ClaraOswald86**  
_I guess it's only fair for you to call me that, seeing that I either call you Santa or mystery man. However, I'm not sure about your theory because, as far as I can see, you're the one without a name and profile picture. In fact, I don't even know your age or what you do for a living. Maybe you really are a spy and I'll soon be dragged into an Ian Fleming novel. Can I count on you to protect me, mystery man?_

“Miss Oswald?” The voice of Clara's least favourite student rang through the air and she looked up to see Courtney Woods smirking in her direction. “I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be on your phone while we're taking a test.”

“And I'm pretty sure you aren't done with those questions yet, so why don't you get back to it?” Clara suggested in a pretend friendly manner and looked back down at the phone in her hands. Her mystery man had replied.

**NotSantaClaus**  
_I think that if we got trapped in a spy novel, I would have to depend on you to keep us alive. I'm really just an ordinary man in my 50s who works in a shop in London and reads books in his spare time. Or maybe that is my clever cover identity? Who can tell these days?_  
_I'm probably just a paranoid idiot for not wanting to put my photo and name online, but I've read the terms and conditions and the part where MatchMaker employees can read in on your private conversations makes me a little cautious._

Clara realized that he did have a point. She had thought about it, but her photo and name were already on Facebook and she normally didn't trust anyone who didn't at least upload a blurry, unfocused photo of themselves on MatchMaker. Her mystery man, however, was different. She couldn't quite explain it, but there was something familiar about him and there wasn't much he could do to harm her with the information she had shared about herself. No, this was plain, harmless fun.

On the other hand, Clara was curious. Yes, her mystery man was a little older than the type she usually went for, but maybe that had been her mistake. If she had so much in common with him, the age difference shouldn't really matter. It never mattered with the Doctor, so why would this one be different? He seemed shy, but his sense of humour appealed to her, their little exchange made her happy and every day, she found herself looking forward to his messages. Maybe it was time to go a little further. Maybe it was time for them to meet – in a safe, public place.

**ClaraOswald86**  
_You know what people in spy novels and movies often do? They dress up in a nice suit or dress and go to a lovely restaurant to have a nice meal in the evening. Whether you're a spy or not, I think this is a wonderful idea. What do you think?_

“Miss Oswald, I have a question?” Tobias asked and Clara looked up and noticed that his hand was in the air.

“Don't interrupt her!” Courtney Woods scolded him, giggling while she did. “Can't you see she's texting her crush?”

Clara cleared her throat. Maybe she did have a crush on her mystery man. There was nothing wrong with that. “What is your question, Tobias?”

“I was wondering if we could earn some extra points by writing down the year of publication on question number three.”

Clara considered it for a moment. “Okay,” she said eventually. “Two correct years will earn you one extra point.”

Once her class had calmed down again, Clara decided to focus on her mystery man once again, but the answer she had received in the meantime wasn't the one she had hoped for. Far from it.

**NotSantaClaus**  
_Oh, my impossible girl. I know it's probably how things work on this app. You find someone, you get along and you decide to meet them, but I'm afraid I'm more the old-fashioned type. Also, there's the fact that I'm either shy or a spy that complicates this matter a little. I would love to meet you one day, but I don't think we know each other well enough to take that step yet. I've been enjoying our conversations a lot. In fact, they're usually the highlight of my day and I don't want to ruin that by rushing forward. I hope you will understand and give me a little more time to get to know you._

Clara frowned at the phone in her hands. Even though she could understand his reasons and it was actually kind of sweet that he was old-fashioned, she had never really been the most patient person and by now, she was determined to meet him. But how was she going to convince him that it wouldn't ruin anything? Maybe it was time to get some male advice from her best friend. Maybe it was time to tell the Doctor about her mystery man even though she hadn't wanted to do that at all.

Clara still couldn't quite explain it, but maybe it had to do with the fact that she was still thinking about kissing him from time to time. Whenever they were close, the thought just invaded her head like an annoying earworm that she couldn't get of. Maybe it was because she had a tiny little crush on them both.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all your wonderful comments! Will we finally find out who Clara's mystery man is?

“You really didn't have to take me out for dinner,” Clara remarked, but at the same time, she continued to stuff her sushi into her mouth as if she hadn't eaten all day. “I mean, we could have had takeout or ordered a pizza.”

The Doctor smiled at her across the table. He was still following Missy's advice, still making an effort and he could tell that Clara appreciated it. Even if she didn't see through his plan, she was enjoying herself and that was what mattered most.

“Well, you said you were feeling like sushi, so-” he replied with a soft shrug and then looked around. “Besides, I think the atmosphere is nice.”

It was indeed nice and the Doctor was glad that the website hadn't lied about the restaurant or the food. He had spent over an hour looking for the perfect place to take Clara.

“It's lovely,” Clara agreed. “We should definitely remember this one. Also, the sushi is excellent.”

The Doctor chuckled as he watched her stuff another piece into her mouth. Yes, she was enjoying this evening. He had succeeded in that.

“So, how was your school week?” the Doctor asked after a while. “You mentioned on the phone that Courtney was giving you a headache again.”

Clara made a dismissive gesture. “Courtney always gives me a headache, that's not a recent thing,” she replied with a sigh and then, for some reason, she hesitated. There was something awkward about the way she poked around in her food while her gaze was fixed on the plate. “I was texting someone while they were taking a test and Courtney was making fun of me, saying it was my crush.”

He chuckled. “That's ridiculous. Ignore that girl. She only wants to wind you up.”

“Well-” Clara started but then broke off, “I was texting a man.”

Suddenly, the Doctor's appetite faded and he placed the chopsticks aside to focus on Clara. She still wasn't looking at him and that was a bad sign. A very, very bad sign.

“I thought you said you were done with meeting men on that app,” the Doctor said and his voice came out a little more angry than he had planned. But he was angry. Not with Clara, but with the entire universe. Why couldn't they just leave her alone for a while? Just give him a chance?

“I wanted to take a break,” Clara insisted. “I mean it, I didn't even want to reply to him, but he started with a Jane Austen quote, so I didn't really have a choice. And I think I need your advice.”

 _Forget about him_ , the Doctor thought, but he was too much of a gentleman to say it out loud. “On what?” he asked instead.

Finally, Clara raised her head to look at him and it took a moment, but eventually, a smile spread across her face. “I really like him,” she admitted. “He's different from the other men, I feel like we have a connection. He's smart and funny and we have basically everything in common. It's almost scary.”

Underneath the table, the Doctor clenched his fists a little while he was trying to keep calm. It seemed as if Clara had found yet another perfect man and he could do nothing about it. Only that wasn't entirely true. There was something he could do.

“The thing is, he's kind of secretive,” Clara went on. “He wouldn't show me a photo of him or tell me his name and he doesn't want to meet yet. I asked him last week cause we've been texting for a while, but he said he wanted to wait. I don't know what that means.”

“How should I know?” the Doctor barked.

“Well, you're a man and you're relatively shy. I thought maybe you could give me an explanation? The other men were more than eager to meet me, so it was kind of weird to have him refuse the suggestion.”

“What did he say?” he asked. Not that he really wanted to know.

Clara sighed. “He said he's old-fashioned and he wants to get to know me better.”

The Doctor cleared his throat. “Honestly, if he doesn't tell you his name or shares a photo, he's probably a creep,” he told her strictly. “I think you should stay away from him.”

It was obvious that it wasn't the answer Clara had been hoping to hear. She sighed and let her shoulders sink before she spoke again. “Maybe you're right,” she admitted after a while. “I thought it was weird, but he said he wasn't comfortable with sharing that kind of stuff online because apparently, the MatchMaker employees could technically read in on your private conversations. I just thought that if we met in a public place, it would be safe enough and we could talk for real, you know?”

“I think it's a stupid idea,” he replied a little too blatantly. The Doctor quickly softened his tone. “Sorry, I just. . . I don't know. This sounds weird.”

With another sigh, Clara nodded. “Yeah” she breathed, but he could clearly see that the matter was still on her mind. Whoever this guy was, he had obviously made an impression on Clara. All the Doctor could do now was to try to undo it.

 

After they had finished their meal, the Doctor took Clara on a walk through the streets. They had decided that the weather was too nice to waste the evening on an Underground train or in a taxi, but the Doctor felt like the walk gave her a little too much time to think.

“You're not still thinking about that creep, are you?” he asked.

“We don't know if he's a creep,” she argued.

He growled in reply. “Clara, he doesn't want to share his photo, he doesn't tell you his name. Even if he's not a creep and even if he isn't up to something, he's certainly a weirdo. You deserve better than a weirdo.”

To his surprise, Clara started to chuckle. “Oh, because you're so normal?” she asked, laughing at him.

“That's different,” he argued. “I'm not coming on to you on a dating website while veiling my identity.”

When he glanced at her, there was an odd expression on Clara's face and it was one he had seen a lot of late. The Doctor wasn't sure what it meant, but it confused him a little. It was as if there was something on her mind that she wasn't willing to share and the Doctor had always been bad at guessing what was on someone's mind.

“Is something wrong?” he asked after a while.

“No,” Clara denied instantly and turned her head to face the pavement ahead of them. “Nothing.”

“I mean it, Clara,” the Doctor said sincerely. Even if he hadn't been jealous of the other man, there were some points that would have made him wary either way. “Have you considered the fact that maybe this guy is a little too perfect?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you seem to have a lot in common with him, that he's a little too perfect. Have you considered the fact that maybe he's just pretending? That his reluctance to meet is a way to make you trust him? I don't know, Clara, but I really don't like this at all.”

“I don't know,” she admitted. “I mean, we've been talking about books and music and that kind of stuff. He would have to do an insane amount of research if he was faking it. But you're right. It _is_ weird and I promise I'll be careful.”

“Good,” the Doctor concluded.

Then Clara chuckled again. “And if I do get a date at some point, you can come with me and be my bodyguard.”

“That would be slightly awkward, don't you think?”

She laughed and the Doctor felt her reach for his arm. Clara held on to him as they continued their walk and he wasn't quite sure whether he had convinced her or not. However, the Doctor knew one thing for certain. He wouldn't allow Clara to meet with that creep under any circumstances. This time, it wasn't even about his jealousy. This time, it was about protecting her.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your kind, lovely comments! Let's see if today's chapter can shed some light on the mystery of Clara's crush. . .

The Doctor stormed into Missy's flat as soon as she had opened the door. He didn't care that it was late, he didn't care that he had vowed to never do something like this again. Right now, it wasn't about him at all but about keeping Clara safe.

“I need your help,” he blurted out when he came to a halt next to the coffee table. “And I don't care if that puts me in your debt forever, but you need to do a thing for me.”

Missy seemed remarkably unimpressed by his outburst. She smirked at him as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and her calm manner only made his own temper worse. “Good evening to you, too, Doctor,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

“Clara,” he said simply and he only now realized that he was still panting from having run all the way to her flat. “I need you to scare away a guy on the dating app.”

For a moment, Missy merely looked at him. Then she started to giggle. “Look at you, Mr High-And-Mighty,” she said. “I remember a few conversations in which you told me that I was doing something really terrible to poor, innocent Clara by sabotaging her dates. Forgive me, but I think it's hilarious that you're here right now, begging me to continue.”

“This isn't about me, Missy,” the Doctor spat. “Clara is being targeted by a creep and he needs to stop.”

“Well, Clara is an adult and if I remember correctly, she's vaguely intelligent,” she argued. “She'll see through it.”

“Missy, please.”

Sighing heavily, his friend sank down on the sofa and gestured towards the Doctor to do the same. He did so only reluctantly because he was still too agitated to sit down properly.

“Please,” the Doctor begged her. “I've never asked anything of you before, but this is important. I feel like this guy could be dangerous and even if he isn't, it's still strange.”

“Will you calm down for a moment?!” Missy said impatiently. “Just tell me about this guy and then we'll see what we can do about him. Clara will hardly meet with him tonight, so I don't see the imminent danger here. Now, tell me everything you know.”

The Doctor inhaled deeply and started repeating everything Clara had told him earlier tonight. The fact that he wasn't willing to share his name or photo, his reluctance to meet. The Doctor told her about his suspicion that the man was pretending, that he was trying to trick Clara and the longer he talked, the more convinced he became that something was wrong.

“The worst part is that Clara is falling for it,” he said. “She admitted that it sounded fishy, but I don't think she's gonna stop talking to him. It's like she's under his spell or something. He's too perfect. They can't possibly have _everything_ in common.”

“Are you sure this isn't just your jealousy talking?” his friend enquired.

“Are you saying that this guy sounds normal?!” the Doctor asked angrily.

“I'm saying that he sounds a lot like you,” she retorted.

The Doctor scoffed in reply.

Missy raised her eyebrows at him, watching him for a long moment. “You have everything in common with her. Books, music, travel. I hate to say nice things about you, but you're also funny, vaguely mysterious and you and Clara certainly have a connection. Honestly, it sounds like she was describing you. I don't think you've ever told her your real name either.”

“Nobody uses my real name,” he barked, glowering at her. “Nobody _knows_ my real name.”

Missy shrugged. “I know it,” she replied. “And I know why you're ashamed to tell people. I mean, B-”

“Can we focus on Clara and the creep, please?”

The Doctor watched Missy inhaled deeply as if she was trying to compose herself. It took her a moment to speak again, but when she did, her voice sounded eerily calm. “Remember when I gave you your first smartphone as a birthday present a couple of years ago?”

He frowned at her. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“You hated it,” Missy went on, her voice calm and deliberate. “You said you would never use it, that it was a silly toy with too many features, that all you needed to do was to make phone calls. How do you like your smartphone now?”

He had known Missy for a very long time and she had always been strange, morally flexible and slightly unhinged, but sometimes, she still managed to confuse him. “I don't understand why you're asking this,” he replied, the confusion audible in his voice. He wanted to talk about Clara, he wanted to find a way to get rid of the creep.

“It was a present that you hated at first, but now you're loving it. You don't wanna live without your phone. Am I right?”

“I guess so?”

“Well,” she continued and suddenly, she smiled at him. “I've got a present for you and I know you'll overreact. You'll say you hate it and call me names, but I know you'll eventually thank me for it. Think about your smartphone and give it to me for a moment.”

“What?!” the Doctor barked at her. “Why?!”

“Just give it, okay?” Missy said impatiently and held out her hand.

Still confused and not knowing what else do to, the Doctor did as she asked. He watched as Missy unlocked his phone and started typing and he was growing more suspicious by the minute. The Doctor didn't even have the slightest idea what Missy was up to.

When she handed him the phone back a couple of minutes later, the Doctor looked at the screen and he wasn't quite sure what exactly he was looking at.

“What?” he asked, squinting at the text. “What is this?”

It was a conversation between someone called NotSantaClaus and ClaraOswald86 and he had little doubt that this person was the creep in question. Though how Missy could hack into their dialogue on his phone was beyond him.

“I have a confession to make,” Missy told him and when the Doctor looked up, there was a strange expression on her face that looked almost like pride. “I created an account. I texted Clara and I pretended to be you.”

“Huh?” the Doctor asked, the frown on his forehead deepening. He didn't understand.

Missy rolled her eyes. “That creep you were talking about is you. Well, me pretending to be you.”

“Huh?”

The Doctor cried out in pain when his friend whacked him across the back of the head. “Stop being so daft and listen to me,” Missy said. “I've known you all my life, I know what's going on in your silly, little head. I pretended to be you while I was texting Clara. And you know what? She's falling for it! She's falling _for you_!”

When the realisation was beginning to dawn on him, there was a lot going through his mind. He was mad at Missy for stealing his identity, he was mad at her for tricking Clara once more, he was mad because it was a nasty thing to do. Yet at the same time, he was also a tiny little bit relieved. Clara wasn't in any danger, she wasn't being targeted by a creep – not counting Missy – and he still remained the only man in her life.

“You're still not getting it, are you?” Missy asked. “ _She's into you!_ ”

The Doctor looked at her in confusion. Missy was right. He still wasn't getting it. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, Clara might not know the name and she hasn't seen a photo yet, but she knows she's talking to a man in his 50s who works in a shop, is shy, funny, kind and shares her hobbies and tastes.”

Slowly, it was beginning to become a little clearer. Missy wasn't wrong, Clara really liked him. Only it wasn't really him but Missy. The Doctor decided that he didn't want to think about how strange it was.

“Now, I assume you'll be able to handle the rest on your own,” she concluded and gave him a soft slap on the back.

The Doctor's head shot up. “Handle what?”

“Well, text her. Woo her. Flirt with her.”

“What? Online?!” he asked in disbelief.

Missy sighed. “Clara has known you for five years and she's too blind to see that she's crazy about you. This will give her the opportunity to fall in love with you properly. Trust me, it's already working.”

“I can't just text her like this, pretending to be somebody else! This is wrong!”

“And telling other men lies about her isn't?” Missy raised her eyebrows at him. “Besides, you're not pretending to be somebody else. You're just being you.”

The Doctor growled at his friend. “I don't know,” he admitted. “It still seems wrong.”

Missy smiled at him again. “Well, why don't you go home and read the conversation? You can still decide to drop it after you've read the things Clara has already confessed to NotSantaClaus.”

“That's a stupid username,” the Doctor muttered.

“You're also stupid, but do you hear me complain about that?”

The Doctor leaned back against the sofa cushions and glanced at the phone in his hands. What Missy had done was bad, it wasn't right, but as much as he hated to admit it, she was right about one thing. It seemed to be working. But that didn't mean the Doctor had to play along and resort to silly, little games. Then again, how far had his method got him?


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for your comments :) But what now? Will the Doctor be a good boy or a naughty one?

The Doctor was staring at his phone as if it was something that was likely to explode as soon as he picked it up. Last night, when he had gone to bed, he had been determined to put an end to the game Missy had started. It was devious and unlikely to work and if Clara found out the truth, all hell would break loose and he would risk ruining their friendship. That was the kind of betrayal she wouldn't be able to forgive. And yet, as he had read the dialogue between NotSantaClaus and ClaraOswald86, a tiny glimmer of hope had started to sprout in him. Everything Missy had told him was true, she had pretended to be him and it scared the Doctor a little how well she actually knew him. What scared him even more was the fact that Clara seemed to enjoy their conversations. She was talking to a 50-something-year-old shopkeeper and a dating app who liked books and music and travel and she was enjoying it. Maybe the Doctor stood a chance after all and maybe this could be it.

Reluctantly, he picked the phone up and to his relief, nothing exploded. He wanted to keep the conversation going, but what was he supposed to say? It hadn't escaped his notice that Clara hadn't replied to NotSantaClaus after the Doctor had warned her about it. How could ease her mind now after everything he had said? How could he un-warn her without making it too obvious?

The Doctor inhaled deeply. There was only one way and he hated to do it because he was sure that laughter and ridicule were to follow.

**NotSantaClaus**  
_Good morning, Clara. I've been thinking about our conversations and how much I'm enjoying them. You asked me if I wanted to meet you and I told you that I would rather wait for a while longer to get to know you properly. Last night, it occurred to me that while I'm getting to know you, you're still looking at my empty profile without a picture, so I decided to give you at least something. There's another reason why I don't like sharing my name and usually go by the nicknames my friends give me, but I think you're worth an exception. My name is Basil and now you know why I always prefer to keep it a secret._

Knowing that Clara was probably busy teaching her little pudding brains, the Doctor decided to take a shower while he waited for her reply. However, when he returned freshly showered and holding a cup of coffee in his hand, he found something else instead. One missed call.

“Clara, did something happen?” he asked as soon as she picked up the phone. “You don't usually call so early.”

“No, nothing,” she replied and it sounded like she was chewing. “I'm on my break right now and I'm basically just calling for a bit of advice.”

“Okay,” the Doctor said and took a sip of his coffee as he sank down on the sofa. “Ask away.”

He heard her take a deep breath on the other end of the line. “I've been thinking about what you said to me last night, about the man I met online who doesn't wanna meet me yet,” she explained. “You were right. It does seem strange and yes, there's every possibility that he's a creep.”

The Doctor's heart sank a little when he realized that he had unknowingly shot himself in the foot last night by trying to get Clara to back off. But how could he have known? And, more importantly, wasn't it better to end this charade now before it got completely out of control? At some point, NotSantaClaus would be forced to meet with Clara and then what would happen?

“I wasn't gonna message him back, but this morning, he texted me and told me his name and now I'm not sure what to do,” Clara explained carefully. Then she sighed. “I know I'm being ridiculous, but I feel like I can't take another disappointment. Not this time.”

The Doctor swallowed. Disappointed she would most certainly be. “Uhm, why?”

Clara hesitated on the other end of the line. “Because I like him. I _really_ like him.”

The feeling of guilt seemed too familiar by now and the Doctor had to resist the urge to tell her the truth on the spot. But he couldn't. Not now. That would most certainly ruin everything.

“Well, if you really like him, I suppose you should just go for it,” the Doctor replied reluctantly. “I mean, at least he gave you _something_.”

Clara chuckled on the other end of the line. “He was really sweet about it. His name is Basil and I think he was afraid I'd laugh at him or something.”

“Aren't you?” the Doctor enquired.

“No, I'm laughing cause he made such a fuss about it. And now that come to think of it,” she continued, “why have _you_ never told me your real name?”

“Oh? Doctor isn't good enough for you anymore?” he joked to avoid the question and then he heard the school bell ring on Clara's end of the line. Saved by the bell.

“And that's my cue,” she said determinedly. “I'll stop by your shop after work?”

“I'll be sure to switch on the coffeemaker,” he replied, smiling to himself. Maybe, Missy's plan hadn't been so bad after all.

* * *

Clara used the moment her students were still unpacking their things to turn her back on them and finally reply to Basil's message. She had wanted to do that the moment she had seen it, but after the Doctor's reaction last night, she had been hesitant. Clara still wasn't sure where this conversation would eventually lead, but she knew that she would never find out unless she tried.

**ClaraOswald86**  
_I think it's very sweet for a grown man to still be embarrassed about his name, but I can assure you, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I'm a teacher, remember? I've probably heard every silly name from Aragorn to Khaleesi and I can honestly say that Basil isn't nearly as bad. But if that's what you prefer, I can keep calling you Santa ;)  
I respect your decision about not meeting yet even though I have to admit that out of everyone I've talked to on this app, you are the one I would most like to get to know better. You are smart and funny and I think I'm starting to develop a little crush on you even though I don't even know what you look like. And I certainly hope I'm not scaring you away with my honesty._

**NotSantaClaus**  
_You could never scare me away, Clara Oswald. Can I be quite honest with you in return? I think the feeling is mutual and that's why I'm a little terrified to meet you. I don't want to disappoint you – and you will probably be disappointed when you see my grey hair and frowny face._

For some reason, it was the Doctor's face that popped up in front of her inner eye and Clara found herself smiling. If they looked anything alike, Clara wouldn't be disappointed at all. It also made her realize how intricate her situation really was. Having a crush on a stranger was one thing, but having a crush on her best friend at the same time was really confusing, especially because the Doctor didn't like her in that way – or maybe that made it easier, Clara wasn't quite sure. But maybe Basil would like her. Clara repeated his name in her head over and over again until it started to have a familiar ring to it and she smiled once again. No, somehow, she doubted he would be a disappointment.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your sweet comments :) Now, chatting on that app alone won't help them, will it?

Missy looked at him expectantly as if she was only waiting for him to come out with a story and the Doctor realized that he should have known she would never stop by his record shop just to see how he was doing. No, Missy had come here for the latest gossip – and to confirm that he was still talking to Clara under the pseudonym of NotSantaClaus. The Doctor glowered at her in response. He so hated to admit that he had actually stooped to her level and was still going through with her plan.

“Yes, dammit, we're still chatting!” he half shouted at her.

A smug smile appeared on his friend's face as she sank down on the stool that Clara usually occupied. “And?” she enquired.

The Doctor hesitated. He really didn't want to to give her the satisfaction and admit that it was sort of working. Suddenly, Missy reached out and nudged him roughly and the Doctor yelped in response.

“Ow! Missy!”

“Tell me how it's going!”

“Well,” he admitted at last. “It's going well.”

“How well?”

He bit down on his lip. The Doctor knew that he should thank Missy, but he was still a proud man and above all, he really didn't want to let her think he was approving of her little tricks.

“Clara said-” he paused. Damn, this conversation was making him feel extremely uncomfortable. “She said she had a crush on me, well, _him_.”

Missy arched up her eyebrows. “And did she tell you or him?”

“Both actually,” he replied.

“Well, that's great,” his friend said and gave him a slap. Unfortunately, she hit the exact spot where she had previously nudged him and it made him wince. “Now ask her out.”

“I can't,” the Doctor argued instantly. “How do you think that would go? As soon as Clara sees me, she'll freak out because I've tricked her, because _you_ made me trick her.”

“Well, yeah, that's one possibility,” Missy replied with a shrug. “Or she might realize that she's been in love with you all along and give you a chance that you will then screw up because you're an idiot and eventually, she'll see that.”

“Wow, thanks for the pep talk,” he muttered, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

“The thing is that you'll never know unless you try. Or do you want to keep this game going forever? Cause sooner or later, she will lose interest if you refuse to meet her.”

The Doctor blew the air out between his teeth and was about to answer her when suddenly, Missy reached for the phone on the desk.

“Hey, what do you think you're doing?!”

His friend didn't reply and she evaded his attempts to snatch the device back from her.

“Missy!”

“I'm gonna ask her out because you're too much of a coward to get anything done,” she said and before the Doctor had a chance to reply, he watched her eyes widen. “Wow, you're really deep into that flirt, aren't you?”

“We're discussing literature,” the Doctor corrected her and made another attempt to get his phone back, but Missy rose from her chair and crossed the room, already typing.

“Dear Clara, you know, I could talk about this for hours, especially with you. I think it's time for me to put my fears aside and take the next step. What do you say? Would you like to continue this conversation over a nice meal?”

“Missy, no!”

“And sent,” she announced proudly and when she turned to look at him, there was a big grin stuck on her face. “You're welcome.”

“It's too soon,” the Doctor said. “We've only been talking a couple of weeks. Clara will never speak to me again after this!”

His friend dropped her shoulders and looked at him for a long moment. “You've got that Paris trip coming up, right?”

“Well, yeah,” he replied even though he had no idea what that had to do with anything. Worst case scenario would be that Clara cancelled the trip because she didn't want anything to do with him after what he had done.

“You can either go there as a couple and have a romantic holiday or in case Clara doesn't take it well, you'll have time to make up and get over this silly business, but at least you'll finally know. This has been going on far too long and look,” Missy said, a sudden hint of excitement in her voice, “Clara just replied.”

Growling, the Doctor rose from his seat and took the phone out of Missy's hands to look at her new message. Suddenly, he felt as if a black hole had opened up in his stomach.

**ClaraOswald86**  
_I would love to meet you and you know it. In fact, I may have just locked myself in the staff bathroom cause I can't stop smiling and my students would totally know what's up. How does Saturday sound to you?_

When the Doctor looked up, Missy was still grinning at him, but his face only darkened at the sight of that.

“I hate you,” he muttered.

“That's a perfectly natural reaction, my dear.”

He growled at her once more, but the damage was already done. He would have to face Clara now whether he wanted to or not.

* * *

Clara felt too excited to go home straight away even though there were a lot of things she would have to take care of. There was her date with her mystery man on Saturday and the preparation for that and of course, a lot of packing to do because, on Monday, she and the Doctor would fly to Paris. Right now, Clara had no idea which of those she was more excited about.

“You'll never guess what happened today!” Clara announced when she burst into the record shop.

The Doctor looked up and somehow, she thought he looked like a startled owl. He was downright adorable like this and even though she might have given him a little scare by waltzing into his shop like that, she just couldn't bring herself to regret it.

“Uhm,” he paused, “did your mystery man agree to a date at last?”

Clara stopped dead in her tracks and frowned at him. “How did you know?”

In response, the Doctor smiled at her and shrugged softly. “Lucky guess. I mean, surely you're not smiling because you're happy to see me.”

“Well, for the record,” she told him as she sank down into her usual seat, “I'm always happy to see you. But you're right. Mystery man messaged me earlier and asked me out. Finally.”

“That's good,” the Doctor said, but Clara thought there was some hesitation in his voice as if he wasn't entirely happy about the development. He had never been exactly happy about any of her dates and suddenly, Clara felt a little bit guilty even though she couldn't quite explain why.

She loved the Doctor and she was definitely attracted to him, but since he would never really see her in that kind of light, she shouldn't waste her best years hoping for him to change his mind. Basil, however, was interested and he had told her so.

“But that's not the only reason I'm happy,” she quickly added, beaming at him.

The Doctor cocked his eyebrows inquisitively.

“Last week of school!” Clara said excitedly. “We're gonna go to Paris next week!”

“Yes,” the Doctor confirmed and finally, the smile on his face seemed genuine. “Paris. I already have a couple of ideas.”

“I can't wait,” she told him, still smiling happily. Right now, everything just seemed to be a little too good to be true.

“You'll be fine on your date though, will you?” the Doctor asked after a moment. “I mean, you're certain he's not a creep? You don't need a chaperone?”

Softly, Clara shook her head. “We agreed to go to that sushi place you took me to. There'll be other people there and staff in case something goes wrong, but I really don't believe it,” she said sincerely. “I believe this date will be the first one to not go wrong.”

The Doctor granted her a short smile before he averted his eyes and it was obvious that he still had his doubts. Clara would show him. She would show him that Basil was different.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last, it's time for their "first" date - but how will it go?
> 
> Thank you guys so much for all your lovely comments :D

“Thank you so much,” Clara uttered and glanced at Amy through the reflection in the mirror, giving her a thankful smile. Her voice was trembling a little. “I don't know what got into me. I was looking at the dress options and suddenly-”

“You panicked,” her friend finished her sentence. There was a look on her face that told Clara she understood all too well. “I was the same before my first date with Rory, remember?”

Clara nodded and then took a deep breath.

“It's a good sign,” Amy reassured her. “It means you really like him. Also, I think your hair looks perfect now.”

“Thanks,” she replied and checked her looks in the mirror once again. Her friend was right. Her hair and makeup were on point. “But isn't the dress a little too. . . revealing?”

“It's a little revealing, but in a good way.”

Still, Clara wasn't entirely convinced. She had liked the guys she had gone out with before, but this time, it was different. This time, Clara thought it really meant something and she didn't want anything to ruin this date and that included not scaring him away with her choice of dress.

Clara turned around in her chair and looked straight at her friend. Her heart was beating so fast under the prospect of what she was about to say. “You're right, I really like him,” she admitted. “I don't want to screw this up, but I'm scared because he's shy and I wanna do it right. I want this to work.”

“Well, from what you've told me, he's just about perfect.”

“He reminds me of the Doctor,” Clara blurted out because it was true.

In response, her friend's eyebrows shot up.

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked, the insecurity showing in her voice. “I mean, am I being unfair? Am I projecting things onto him? Am I wrong to do that?”

Yet to her surprise, Amy chuckled. “Maybe you just have a type,” she replied with a shrug. “And if your type is silver fox who enjoys books and music, then I can't see anything wrong with that.”

Clara inhaled deeply. “You're right,” she concluded. “I think I'm just nervous.”

Amy smiled at her. “And I think you're gonna be late if you don't get off your arse now.”

 

Of course, her best friend was right, so Clara grabbed her purse and blazer and together, they headed out of the door. Luckily for Clara, Amy had agreed to drive her because the restaurant was on the way to her flat and the closer they got, the more nervous Clara really grew no matter how often her friend reassured her that her dress really wasn't too short. She still wasn't entirely convinced. The traffic also didn't help Clara ease her mind because when they finally arrived, she was already ten minutes late.

“Oh God,” Clara uttered and blew the air out between her teeth. Now that they were here, her hands had started to tremble a little.

“You can do it,” Amy reassured her. “Now get out of the car and go get that man!”

Clara exhaled one last time and then granted Amy a smile. “Thank you,” she whispered and got out of the car before she could change her mind.

 

When she stepped inside the restaurant, Clara comforted herself with the thought that it was at least familiar because she had been here once before. She knew the location, the menu, even one of the waiters looked a little bit familiar and Clara took a deep breath before she scanned the room for a man who looked like he could be her date. Basil still hadn't sent her a photo, but he had reassured her that he would recognize her. But what if he didn't? What if Clara had overdone it with her makeup and hair and now he wouldn't know who she was? After all, he had only ever seen one picture, so Clara decided to look out for a man with grey hair.

She glanced around the room and spotted a group of men in their 30s, several couples and a then, in the far corner of the room, she finally saw him. However, it wasn't the face Clara had expected and all of a sudden, her nervousness turned into anger. He had some nerve.

Quickly, Clara crossed the room, storming past the tables until she had reached him and when he looked up, he seemed dead scared – and rightly so.

“What the hell are you doing here?!”

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply, but no word came out and Clara crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him. Maybe it was better that he didn't speak, that he didn't try to defend himself because she wasn't in the mood to hear his excuses.

“I told you that I was fine!” she barked at him. “I told you that there was no need to chaperone me! I have no idea why you came here, but you need to leave immediately!”

“Clara-”

“No!” she hushed him instantly. “I don't want your excuses because I'm sure you think they're noble, but I don't need a protector! I'm on a date in a public place. What do you think anyone could do to me here?!”

Slowly, the Doctor rose from his seat and he looked a little beaten. “Clara, please, just listen-”

“No, I won't! You're gonna go home and you're gonna do that right now before my date gets here!” Clara hissed, trying very hard to keep her voice down while still bringing across how angry she was with him. It was unbelievable and right now, Clara regretted ever telling him where her date would take place because she had specifically told him that she didn't need protection. “I really don't know what got into you, but you need to leave!”

Again, the Doctor tried to speak, but Clara cut him off before he had a chance. The more he tried to justify his actions, the more furious she grew.

“I am having a really hard time finding a man and you know that,” she said sharply. “The last thing I need is you butting in and ruining yet another date.”

“I didn't ruin-”

“Yes, you did! Last time, I was grateful, but right now all I need is for you to leave me alone!”

“Clara-”

“Go!” she half yelled at him and finally, the Doctor seemed to realize that he wasn't welcome here.

She watched as he picked up his coat and threw her another pleading glance before he started to head towards the exit, but Clara wasn't anywhere near ready to forgive him. She knew that he had only tried to protect her, but however noble his intentions might have been, this was something that could potentially scare Basil away and she really didn't want that to happen.

Once the Doctor had left, Clara sat down in the chair the Doctor had previously occupied and looked around once here. There was no other man around who could fit Basil's description of himself, so she decided that he was probably stuck in a traffic jam as well and waited, hoping that he hadn't come in while she and the Doctor had been arguing. If he had ruined her date again, Clara would be furious.

She waited for half an hour and once she had finished her glass of wine, Clara decided to pull out her phone and see if Basil had left her a message. However, her inbox was empty and she didn't take him for the type who would run late and not apologize. It took her another ten minutes until she came to the realisation that he had stood her up.

The Doctor would get another good scolding for that, Clara vowed. She wouldn't let him get away with ruining the one date that had actually meant something to her.

Sad and still angry, Clara grabbed her blazer and left a five-pound note on the table before she walked out. During her stride through the streets, Clara realized that what she felt was disappointment. Both the men she liked had disappointed her tonight and right now she doubted that things could be okay again even though what she wanted most was to fix this mess.


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is heartbroken, Clara is disappointed. That is less than ideal for their impending Paris trip, don't you think?
> 
> Thank you guys so, so much for your comments! Let me give you a massive group hug for them!

Missy had been right about one thing. The Doctor was a bloody coward, but maybe, for once, that wasn't such a bad thing.

The air between them was icy, but at least Clara wasn't mad enough to cancel their trip to Paris and the Doctor figured that it was a good sign. She was angry and disappointed, but at some point, she would get over it. He hoped. He glanced at her and noticed that her eyes were locked on the back of the seat in front of her and even the light turbulences didn't seem to bother her. It had been the better option, the Doctor told himself. It had been wiser to chicken out than tell her the truth because at least, she was on the plane with him. When Clara had caught him at the restaurant, he had wanted to tell her the truth, he had wanted to tell her that he was her date and in love with her, but Clara hadn't even given him the chance. If she had, he would most likely be on his own right now.

Carefully, the Doctor cleared his throat. “So, uhm, do you want to start with the Louvre or Notre Dame?” he asked cautiously.

“I don't care,” she hissed in reply, not even looking at him as she did.

The Doctor inhaled deeply. He felt so terribly sorry for what had happened, not just the incident at the restaurant. He felt sorry for tricking her, he felt sorry for letting Missy trick her and he just wanted their friendship to go back to normal. The Doctor didn't care that he would never have a chance with her as long as their friendship was fine. Losing Clara was the worst thing that could happen to him.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered even though he had tried to apologize a dozen times already. “I really-”

“Stop it, okay?” Clara barked and finally, she turned around to look at him. However, her usually soft, dark eyes were now glaring at him. “You thought you were doing a good thing there, but you were horribly wrong! Basil probably saw us arguing and left and he hasn't even messaged me since. I don't think I'll ever hear from him again and I'm really, really mad because of that. I liked him and you knew that and still, you ignored what I told you and ruined my date. So please, don't try to make small talk as if nothing ever happened because I'm gonna need a bit of time to stop being angry at you and your stupidity.”

“I only-”

“I don't care that you only meant well,” she spat. “I told you I didn't need protection and you didn't listen.”

The Doctor opened his mouth to apologize again, but Clara turned her head away and faced the back of the seat again. Instead of saying anything, the Doctor blew the air out between his teeth and leaned back as well. Their trip to Paris was probably ruined, but there was nothing he could do about that now. It was just like Clara had said. She would need some time to stop being angry and once she got over her mystery man, their friendship would hopefully return to normal.

However, one thing wasn't entirely correct. There was _something_ he could do even though it meant resorting to the game that had started this mess to begin with. Well, he still had an hour to consider his options before they landed.

 

The hotel was small and cosy and right at the centre of Paris, but the Doctor wasn't so very interested in admiring the interior when he dropped his luggage next to the bed and drew out his phone. Clara hadn't spoken to him since their fight on the plane and she had wordlessly retreated to her own room down the hall without even discussing when they would meet to go out. It wasn't even noon yet and they still had most of the day left to explore one the most beautiful cities in the world – and Clara was busy sulking.

No, the Doctor had to do something about that, but he also knew that Clara wouldn't listen to him right now.

He sank down on his bed and entered the hotel's WI-FI password into his phone. Once it had connected, he opened the MatchMaker app and stopped. What was he supposed to say to her after just standing her up? Wouldn't she be just as mad at Basil as she was at him? The Doctor scoffed at the ridiculousness of the situation when he remembered that Clara was sort of doubly mad at one person without even knowing. He had to fix that even if it was with a lie.

 **NotSantaClaus**  
_Dear Clara, I really hope you'll read this message even though you have every right to delete it straight away and block me forever because what I did on Saturday was disrespectful, inconsiderate and above all, cowardly. I am truly sorry. I hope you believe me when I say that._

_I know you probably won't want to listen to my excuses, but I just want you to know that I didn't stand you up, well, not entirely. I was late because of the traffic and when I arrived, you were already sitting there and you were looking quite angry about my tardiness. You know I'm a shy person and at that moment, I just froze. I saw you and I couldn't move. All I kept thinking was how beautiful you looked and I just chickened out. I got scared because of my age, because of my grey hair, because of, well, everything. I've never been good at approaching women, which is why my friend thought the app would help me, but when I saw you in person, I just lost all confidence because I didn't think a young, beautiful woman could ever be interested in an old fool like me._

_I would understand if you decided to stop talking to me because of my behaviour even though I will truly miss our conversations._

The Doctor sent the message and threw his phone on the bed with a sigh. Even though Clara would probably never talk to NotSantaClaus again, he hoped that he had at least helped himself by showing her that he hadn't ruined her date after all. Clara would still be mad at him, but maybe it would soften her mood just a little, just enough to enjoy their Paris trip.

It wasn't even that big a lie. The Doctor had really chickened upon looking into Clara's pretty, slightly angry face. But he now knew that Clara could never find out that they were the same person.

It took a few minutes, but eventually, the phone buzzed next to him and when the Doctor went to pick it up, he didn't even have a chance to read whatever she had messaged him because a few moments later, there was a knock on his hotel room door. A soft smile spread across the Doctor's face. His little plan had worked, he was sure of that.

He rose from his seat and went to open the door, only to look into Clara's stern face. She was still glowering at him and the Doctor's heart sank a little. Had he just made it worse? Or had Clara figured him out?


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to all of you for your comments!!!! Glad you're still enjoying the story despite the slow burn. But what about our favourite idiots?

Clara sank down on her hotel bed and glanced at her surroundings. She had been looking forward to this trip to Paris so, so much and now, everything seemed ruined. Four days in Paris. Four days with the Doctor. A part of her was tempted to forgive him just because she couldn't imagine having even the slightest bit of fun while she was so very mad at him, but how could she? The Doctor had screwed up and even if she tried, she couldn't look past the fact that he had messed up the only date that had really meant something to her. Any other guy would have been okay, but not Basil, not after she had waited so long to meet him. Would she ever hear from him again? Clara sincerely doubted it.

She still didn't understand what had gotten into the Doctor, why he had felt the need to go over her head and show up. Of course, he always wanted the best for her and he had wanted to protect her which, overall, had been a sweet thought – but one that had gone horribly wrong. She wanted to forgive him, but she also didn't want to. The Doctor needed to understand that he had ruined something very important to her.

Clara was about to lie down and consider her options further when suddenly, her phone buzzed. With a heavy sigh, Clara reached for the device and was already preparing to tell Amy that she had arrived safely when she spotted the message and for a moment, Clara couldn't believe who it was from.

**NotSantaClaus**  
_Dear Clara, I really hope you'll read this message even though you have every right to delete it straight away and block me forever because what I did on Saturday was disrespectful, inconsiderate and above all, cowardly. I am truly sorry. I hope you believe me when I say that._

_I know you probably won't want to listen to my excuses, but I just want you to know that I didn't stand you up, well, not entirely. I was late because of the traffic and when I arrived, you were already sitting there and you were looking quite angry about my tardiness. You know I'm a shy person and at that moment, I just froze. I saw you and I couldn't move. All I kept thinking was how beautiful you looked and I just chickened out. I got scared because of my age, because of my grey hair, because of, well, everything. I've never been good at approaching women, which is why my friend thought the app would help me, but when I saw you in person, I just lost all confidence because I didn't think a young, beautiful woman could ever be interested in an old fool like me._

_I would understand if you decided to stop talking to me because of my behaviour even though I will truly miss our conversations._

“You stupid idiot,” Clara muttered under her breath while she was reading Basil's message. Somehow, she felt like she should have known that he would chicken out. The signs had been there and Clara, in her eagerness to meet him, had ignored them all. Right now, she couldn't even tell whether she was mad or amused by his silly shyness, but one thing was for certain: she wouldn't let him get away that easily.

**ClaraOswald86**  
_Oh no, you're not getting away so easily, Mister! You're right. I don't want your excuses or your apologies. But you can make it up to me._

When Clara hit the send button, she could feel the relief coming over her like a wave. Maybe things weren't ideal at the moment, but at least her fears had been unfounded. Basil hadn't witnessed her fight with the Doctor, he was just being a shy idiot. As for the Doctor, he hadn't ruined anything after all. True, she would still make sure he knew that she was mad at him, but now, Clara could forgive him without feeling bad about it. A smile spread across her face when she realized that maybe their holiday wasn't doomed yet.

She jumped up from her bed and headed out of the hotel room, down the corridor until she came to a halt in front of the Doctor's door. She knocked on it excitedly, eager to finally put this mess behind. However, before he had a chance to open up, Clara quickly put on a stern face, determined not to make it all too easy for him.

“You're an idiot,” she announced sharply when he opened the door. The Doctor looked a little confused or even frightened and Clara made her way past him into the room to finish her lecture. “You do realize that, don't you?”

The Doctor frowned at her in response as if he wasn't quite sure where this was going. “Yes?” he asked carefully.

“I need you to promise me not to crash any of my dates ever again unless I specifically ask you to.”

“Uhm-” the Doctor hesitated, cautiously raising his eyebrows a little further. “I promise?”

Clara looked at him for a long moment and she realized that he really seemed terribly sorry about what had happened and suddenly, she felt a stab of guilt over giving him such a hard time when her worries had been for nothing.

“The date with Basil meant a lot to me,” she explained quietly. “When he didn't show, I was afraid you had scared him away. Turns out he was just too shy to approach me. I get why you did it and technically, it was sweet of you to come by and make sure he wasn't a creep, but I was really mad at first.”

Finally, a hint of a smile appeared on the Doctor's face. “You're not mad any longer?”

“Maybe a little,” Clara replied and then laughed at the look on his face. “No, not really. I just want to put this silly fight behind me. Basil is an idiot, you're an idiot and I was a bit of an idiot too when I had such a go at you for trying to protect me.”

“So we're good?”

Clara nodded and she didn't wait for him to say anything else as she stepped forward and threw her arms around him in a tight hug. She didn't realize how much she had missed his embrace until her arms folded around his chest, until she felt the familiar warmth coming from his body, until he closed his arms around her in return and squeezed her a little. It was at that moment that she realized it was impossible to stay mad at him for too long because what would she ever do without him?

“I love you, Doctor,” she whispered and nuzzled her face against his shirt.

For a moment, the Doctor didn't say anything in return and when he finally spoke, there was a strange undertone in his voice. Was it sadness? Clara couldn't quite tell.

“I love you, too.”

Finally, she forced herself to release him from the embrace and she lifted her head to smile at him. “Now show me Paris,” she demanded. “I wanna see everything.”

“How about we start with a nice restaurant? Cause I'm really, really hungry,” the Doctor suggested.

Clara grinned at him in reply and then shrugged. “Works for me.”

 

They didn't end up going to a restaurant, but the Doctor suggested a small café that sold delicious crêpes and Clara devoured hers hungrily after not having had a decent meal since 6 am. Over lunch, they talked about the nice hotel and their plans for the following days, the sights they were going to see, the things they wanted to do and Clara felt her excitement return more and more with every passing minute. Even if Basil hadn't messaged her, she would have forgiven the Doctor anyway. He was the one man in her life that she would always forgive and always trust, no matter what happened. He was her best friend.

“So, where would you like to start?” the Doctor suddenly asked, tearing her out of her thoughts.

Clara lifted her head and for a moment, she could do nothing but smile. It seemed as if the excitement had returned to him as well and he was beaming at her. It was a sight Clara would probably never grow tired of and suddenly, she felt that tingling sensation in her belly again.

“The Louvre sounds like a good place to start, doesn't it?”

“Absolutely,” he agreed with a smile.

Happy with the recent development, Clara leaned back in her seat and smiled. This trip was going to be amazing, she was sure of it.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all your comments!!! Now that they made up, there's nothing standing in the way of some Paris cuteness, is there?

The Doctor was looking at the Mad Hatter's teacup ride and wondering whether Clara would make him go on any of the silly things. He still wasn't sure why on earth he had agreed to take her to Disneyland, but when she giggled behind him, the Doctor realized that her excitement was probably worth it. After all, he still had a “ruined date” to make up for or at least that was what Clara thought. Yesterday had been a great start to their Paris holiday and the Doctor knew that she had enjoyed herself thoroughly. They had seen the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and after a nice dinner at a lovely hotel, they had retreated to their hotel rooms and at least the Doctor had fallen asleep in a matter of minutes after being up on his feet all day.

Suddenly, the Doctor felt Clara approach from behind right before something touched his head. He spun around and looked straight into her laughing face and his own gaze darkened when he realized just what had happened.

“You promised,” he growled. “You said no Mickey Mouse ears on my head.”

Clara beamed at him and it didn't slip his notice that she reached into her pocket for her phone. “I think they suit you,” she replied happily, grinning in his direction. “Can I take a photo?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Please?”

The Doctor growled and let his shoulders sink in defeat as he realized Clara would never give up unless she got her will. But that didn't mean he wouldn't glower at her the whole time while she was taking his picture with those ridiculous ears on his head. Then, once she had pocketed her phone, Clara suddenly stepped forward and flung her arms around him in a tight embrace.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely, her voice muffled by the fabric of his coat. “For doing this for me.”

“It's not like you would have given up,” he muttered in reply, but he wasn't entirely as grumpy as he pretended to be. While Disneyland wouldn't have been his first choice, it wasn't nearly as bad as he had initially thought. If the Doctor was completely honest, he sort of admired the details they had put into this place. “Oh look, there's the real Mickey Mouse over there. Shall I take a photo of you two?”

Clara raised her head to look at him and somehow, the Doctor got the impression that her smile had only widened. “Admit it,” she teased, “you're enjoying it at least a little.”

“You're imagining things.”

She chuckled in response. “Tell you what, I'll find a loo and afterwards, we'll ask Mickey to take a selfie with us both. Maybe by then, the group of kids will have finished.”

“Fine,” he growled. “It's not like there's much of my dignity left.”

Clara granted him one last smile before she vanished in the direction of the nearest toilets and as soon as she had turned her back, the Doctor reached for his head and took off the ridiculous Mickey Mouse ears. He could tolerate making a fool of himself in front of Clara but that was it. It took a few minutes and then the phone buzzed in his pocket. Curious as to who it was, the Doctor drew out his phone and checked his messages. A smile spread across his face when he realized that it was the MatchMaker app and that Clara had messaged him back. NotSantaClaus had asked her about Paris last night and the Doctor was more than a little curious to read her answer.

**ClaraOswald86**  
_Paris is amazing!!! My friend and I are having a lot of fun and I'm a little sad we'll only be staying for a few days. I can't wait to see what he's planned for tomorrow, but I'm sure that I'll love it. He knows me too well to take me someplace boring – unless, of course, he's out for revenge after I dragged him to Disneyland today. How's good, old London? Everything still standing?_

The Doctor smiled at his phone. It was obvious that Clara was having fun, but to read it, gave him another boost – and it reminded him to make the following two days even more special and show that she was right about him. He already had a few ideas, but maybe he could look up more options online? Notre Dame and a walk by the Seine were good ideas, but they would hardly take her breath away. He needed inspiration. And who better to ask than the woman in question?

**NotSantaClaus**  
_I'm glad you're having so much fun. Paris is a wonderful city as far as I remember with a lot of very lovely, romantic spots. I always thought an evening walk by the Seine was the most romantic thing you could witness in the entire world. Unless we have different ideas about what a romantic date should be like._

“Hey, put that phone away,” Clara voiced reminded him and the Doctor barely had time to send the message and lock his screen before she had reached him. “We're on holiday.”

The Doctor granted her a smile. “Just wanted to remind Missy that plants die unless you water them,” he lied and slid the phone back into his pocket.

Clara shrugged in response and then looked around until her eyes found the man dressed as Mickey Mouse. “So, what do you say? Time for a selfie with Mickey?”

The Doctor rolled his eyes but eventually laughed. “Oh, come on, let's get that selfie. But I want to have lunch at that pirate restaurant,” the Doctor insisted.

Chuckling, she hooked her arm into his and started to lead him towards the silly man in a mouse costume. “That sounds like a fair deal to me.”

“Yo-ho,” he muttered, but the Doctor couldn't quite help the hint of a smile that appeared on his lips. When he was with Clara, even Disneyland seemed like a nice way to pass the time.

* * *

Clara leaned back on the picnic blanket and closed her eyes against the sunlight that slipped through the leaves on the trees. The Doctor had chosen this spot carefully, a quiet corner in an otherwise busy park and it had seemed like the ideal location for a lunchtime picnic. Looking at Clara, the Doctor confirmed that she obviously agreed with his choice. She stretched her legs and for a moment, lifted her feet up.

“Ugh, my feet really needed the break,” she said.

The Doctor frowned at her outstretched legs. “It's a miracle you can even walk in those shoes.”

“Hey, they're comfier than they look,” she told him and smiled in his direction. “I just didn't realize we'd be going for a long walk.”

“Well, the best way to discover the more quiet areas of Paris is by foot,” the Doctor reasoned. “But we can go back to the hotel if you wanna change your shoes.”

“No, it's fine,” Clara replied with a waving gesture before she reached into the picnic basket and picked up a grape. Still chewing, she went on. “I will survive Notre Dame, but I'd love to know what you've got planned for tomorrow so I can prepare.”

The corners of the Doctor's mouth curled up into a smirk. NotSantaClaus had used his advantage and asked Clara what she would like to do and now, the Doctor was going to surprise her with some items from that very list. “It's going to be a surprise,” he said sheepishly.

“Come on, at least give me a little hint,” she said and leaned forward to nudge him softly. 

“You don't want to listen to my complaints about achy feet, do you?”

“Tomorrow is our last day in Paris and I want that to be a surprise,” he argued.

Clara pouted at him in response, pursing her lips and wrinkling her cute nose just a little. Why did that expression always manage to melt his heart?

“Alright, a hint,” he growled. “You'll need comfy shoes for the first part of the day, but for the evening, you'll need that fancy dress you brought along.”

“Mh,” she replied and squinted her eyes at him. “How do you know I brought a fancy dress?”

The Doctor shrugged and suddenly, he felt Clara lean closer to him until her head rested on his shoulder.

“I think you know me far too well,” she said. “It's almost scary.”

Chuckling in reply, the Doctor decided to place his arm around Clara's shoulder. Yes, he knew her well and this time, he hadn't even cheated. And even if the plans for tomorrow had involved cheating, the Doctor was sure that Clara was going to appreciate it.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor obviously has a plan. But what is it and will it work?
> 
> Hope you're all having a lovely Easter weekend and thank you so much for the comments! :)

Clara couldn't help but gasp when the Doctor led her into the small, cosy restaurant. From the outside, it had looked like a regular pub in London, but the interior wasn't exactly what she had expected. The Chez Toinette was rustic in the best of ways – dark, wooden furniture, crimson walls, fairy lights for the atmosphere. When the Doctor had told her to put on a fancy dress, Clara had expected a stiff, expensive restaurant, so this came as a pleasant surprise even though she and the Doctor seemed a little overdressed for this kind of venue.

“I love it,” she told him sincerely while he ushered her towards a table in a more quiet corner. It was the middle of the week, so the restaurant wasn't as crowded as it probably would have been on a Saturday night and she appreciated the fact that they were able to have a proper conversation over dinner. As she sat down, Clara granted him a smile. “To be honest, I had expected something else.”

Suddenly, the Doctor looked a little frightened. “You're disappointed, aren't you?”

Clara chuckled at him in reply. “No, silly. I just told you I love it,” she repeated with a smile. “It's cosy and a lot better than some stiff five-star restaurant where you have to be careful not to spill wine over the tablecloth.”

He exhaled audibly, obviously relieved that Clara was still enjoying herself and how could she not? Yesterday, the Doctor had shown her a few quiet but no less beautiful corners of a rather unknown side of Paris, he had taken her to a picnic in the park, followed by a visit to Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur. They had ended the day with a stroll through Montmartre during which Clara had once again wanted to complain about her aching feet, but the moment had been to beautiful to ruin it. She had loved every second of it, especially since the Doctor had spent the entire time telling her about everything they saw and she had listened to him all too happily.

Today had been off to a great start as well with a tour through Paris' gardens and an afternoon browsing through the boutiques. Somehow, Clara was under the impression that he had added that small detail just to please her, but she wasn't going to complain about it, not when he was being so very sweet despite Disneyland.

“You're not doing this all for me because I got mad about the _not ruined after all_ date?” Clara asked him after a while.

The Doctor looked up from the menu he had been studying and it took him a moment to process her question, but eventually, he frowned at her. “Doing what?”

Clara grinned at him. “So far, this Paris trip has been perfect. We haven't done anything that wasn't on my list. In fact, we've done stuff I wanted to do that I haven't even told you about because I thought you'd never agree willingly after I already dragged you to Disneyland.”

A soft smile appeared on the Doctor's face as well, but instead of replying, he merely shrugged.

“You hate shopping,” she argued.

“I was running out of ideas and I thought you'd enjoy it.”

Somehow, Clara didn't quite believe him. There was something else to it, she was sure of it, but she didn't have time to question it further when a waiter arrived to take their order. But when they were alone once again, Clara leaned forward and watched the Doctor intently, trying to figure out what exactly he was planning. She couldn't read anything from his face.

It was all a little too perfect, a little too romantic and even though Clara was thoroughly enjoying it, there was something confusing about it all, something that was different and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Yet that didn't mean she wasn't loving it.

“I'm excited about tonight,” she said eventually.

The Doctor scoffed softly. “You don't even know what we're going to do. Maybe I'll take you to a football match.”

“In fancy dress?”

“Oh, absolutely,” he replied and granted her a broad smile that suddenly made her heart skip a beat. It was then that Clara realized it didn't really matter why he was doing everything to please her because he was obviously enjoying it, too.

* * *

“No way!” Clara exclaimed loudly as she gawked at the all too familiar building in front of her. “ _No way!_ ”

When she looked up at the Doctor, he was grinning so proudly that she couldn't help but reach out and give him a soft punch because it was too good to be true, it was downright insane. He was obviously surprised at her reaction because he flinched only a moment later.

“Show me your mind-reading device immediately!” Clara demanded. “How on earth did you know?!”

Still grinning, the Doctor turned his head to look at her. “I don't need a mind-reading device, Clara. I booked the tickets when I booked this trip because, believe it or not, I've known you for a couple of years.”

Unable to believe they were actually going to do it, Clara looked around once again and marvelled at the illuminated windmill in front of her. An evening at the famous Moulin Rouge. It was a dream come true. It wasn't so much the show that she was eager to see, but the venue itself. Clara had been dreaming about diving into the world of the famous Moulin Rouge ever since she had watched the movie in her teenage years, but she hadn't actually thought that she would really be here one day, especially not with the Doctor. It wasn't the type of thing he usually did, but he had done it now and Clara knew that he had done it especially for her.

In the spur of the moment, Clara spun around, pushed herself up on tiptoes and pressed a kiss to the Doctor's cheek, only narrowly missing his lips in her excitement. It didn't matter. Right now, she would have kissed him straight on the lips and when the realisation dawned on her, Clara suddenly felt a little nervous. Her excitement mingled with confusion when she noticed that this trip to Paris really wasn't helping her developing crush. The Doctor was perfect in every single way. He knew her better than anyone else had ever, he was attractive and funny and kind and she even loved his often grumpy manner. Right now, at the height of her excitement, her love for him almost seemed to well over. But why did he have to be so complicated? Why couldn't he just like her back in the same way? Right now, Clara wanted nothing more than to kiss him, to show him how much she loved him, how grateful she was to have him in her life, but what difference would it make? The only thing she would be doing was to confuse him.

“Is, uhm, is everything okay?” he asked as if he had picked up on her inner turmoil and suddenly, he seemed nervous once again as if he was afraid he had done something wrong.

“Yes,” she reassured him with a smile even though the way he looked at her still gave her butterflies. A romance with the Doctor. It was impossible. After so many years of friendship, it just couldn't happen, no matter how perfect he was for her. What were the odds that he suddenly decided he wanted more? Clara swallowed hard and tried to ban the thought from her mind. “Shall we go inside?”

In response, the Doctor held out his hand to her and Clara took it with a smile before he led her into the building. Even though the evening hadn't even really begun yet, Clara was sure that it was one she would never forget.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so, so much for the lovely comments. Happy to hear you're enjoying their (romantic) trip to Paris - but the trip isn't over yet, is it? ;)
> 
> Oh, and of course, HAPPY EASTER :) Have a lovely day!

Clara hooked her arm in his as they walked along the Seine and she inhaled deeply at the sight on the other side of the river. The night was clear and warm enough and she was enjoying the walk and the look of the illuminated city over the water and above all, she was enjoying the moment she was sharing with the Doctor. Just the two of them, walking arm in arm.

It occurred to her that Amy was right about everything she had said. Clara couldn't find a man because she had a crush on the Doctor and for months or even years, she had been trying to find a person who was like him but who would love her in return. At last, she seemed to have found him in Basil, but again, she had picked a complicated case because he was too shy to even meet with her. And then there was the problem that he wasn't the Doctor. She and Basil really clicked online, but would the same thing happen in real life while she was attracted to the Doctor?

“You're very quiet,” the Doctor remarked after a while. “Did you not like the show?”

Clara turned her head and smiled at him. There was something about the way he looked under the light of the street lamps that made him seem utterly beautiful. “I loved it,” she replied sincerely. “The show, the Moulin Rouge, Paris in general. It's a shame we'll have to fly home tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” he agreed with a sigh. “Apart from Disneyland, the trip was great.”

Clara chuckled at his remark. “You liked Disneyland. I'm still waiting for you to admit that.”

The Doctor scoffed softly, but she could hear the amusement in his voice anyway. “You'll be waiting for that until you're grey and old.”

She shrugged. “It's okay. I'm not in a hurry,” Clara remarked and somehow, it seemed strange to think that far ahead. There wasn't a single doubt in her head that the Doctor would remain a part of her life until the end. Over the years, Clara had seen a lot of friendships come and go, but the Doctor was different. No matter what happened, she would always love him and maybe now was the first time she was actually starting to understand that.

“You're still quiet.”

Clara inhaled deeply. “Let's go back to the hotel, okay? My fancy shoes aren't exactly my walking shoes.”

 

The Doctor agreed and led her back towards their hotel and he, too, went quiet as they walked. It wasn't so much that Clara was tired because she wasn't, but she just didn't know what to say to him right now while her thoughts were still running a little haywire in her head and she didn't want to ruin the mood by saying something meaningless. When they came to a halt in front of her hotel room door a half hour later, however, Clara didn't feel ready to say goodnight just yet. In her current state, she would only lie awake and brood.

“Hey,” she began and turned towards the Doctor, “I'm not really tired yet. Wanna hang out for a bit?”

He cracked a smile in response. “We have to get up at 5 am and it's past midnight.”

“I know,” she replied and bit down on her lip, looking at him sheepishly. “But I can't go to sleep just yet. I'm still a bit too edgy after the show and the day in general.”

The Doctor shrugged softly. “Well, I suppose we could try to wind down with a glass of the wine we bought yesterday.”

“Excellent plan,” Clara agreed immediately and turned to unlock her door. Wine always managed to make her sleepy. It would work.

The Doctor followed her into the hotel room and discarded his coat on the small chair by the bed before he sank down on her sheets while Clara went through her already packed luggage to find the bottle of wine she had bought at the shop the day before. After retrieving two glasses from the minibar, she joined the Doctor on the bed.

“So, uhm, Moulin Rouge was a good idea then?” he asked carefully.

While Clara poured the wine into their glasses, she couldn't help but frown at his question and when she looked up at him, she found that he was avoiding her gaze. Was he nervous? He seemed a little nervous.

“Maybe we could watch that movie once we get back. I've seen it on your shelf.”

Clara took a sip of her wine and watched the Doctor do the same thing while she was still pondering her answer. It wasn't the Doctor's type of movie, the show at the Moulin Rouge wasn't the Doctor's type of event. He was doing it especially for her. But why? And did it really matter?

“It's kind of sad,” she argued softly, still looking at him.

It wasn't the light of the street lamps that had made him look beautiful, Clara realized, because he still was looking extremely good right now. She had known him for so long that she hadn't paid much attention to his looks recently apart from pointing out the occasional odd outfit. His hair had grown longer over the past few years, evolving into an unruly, curly mop on his head and somehow, Clara thought his features looked a lot softer than they had the first time she had seen him.

Clara didn't know why she was doing it, what compelled her to do it this time. She just knew that she really, really wanted it. After placing her wineglass on the floor, Clara leaned forward and pressed another kiss to his cheek like she had done earlier, only this time, she didn't exactly pull away. When the Doctor turned his head, Clara remained exactly where she was, only inches away from his face. There was a hint of confusion in his eyes and the scent of his aftershave was clouding her senses as she leaned in once more and kissed him again. Their lips met in the most gentle, reluctant manner and Clara wasn't sure how far she could go, but her rapid pulse and the butterflies in her belly urged her on. After their first kiss and the awkward aftermath, Clara had expected the Doctor to pull away from her but once again, she was surprised when he parted his lips to let her in.

The taste of red wine clung to his tongue when they touched and he reached out and cupped her cheeks in his hands, pulling her a little closer. It was almost as if he had expected it to happen, as if he had hoped it would happen again and Clara couldn't help but think that she had hoped for the exact same thing. Soon enough, their kiss deepened and Clara let herself fall against his chest, causing him to topple over and sink back onto her bed when she caught him off guard.

When Clara landed on top of him, they eventually pulled apart and she didn't know what came over her, but for some reason, she just had to laugh.

“What's so funny?” the Doctor asked instantly and there was a hint of fear in his voice.

She smirked at him and shrugged as best as she could while their arms were still tangled. “You, me, Paris,” she said. “Not how I expected this to go.”

“I'm sorry.”

Clara grinned at him. “Don't be,” she half whispered. “I'm kind of enjoying this.”

The Doctor cocked his eyebrow at her in response and she could tell by the look on his face that he was desperately searching for something to say, but Clara didn't want him to speak. Not now. It was as if a tiny shockwave went through her body, causing her hands to tremble when she realized that she wanted him and that right now, the Doctor would probably let it happen. This could be their only chance.

“Okay, not just kind of,” she corrected herself. “I'm _really_ enjoying this.”

“Do you-” the Doctor broke off, unable to finish the sentence. He didn't have to.

Clara knew what he wanted to ask and she nodded in response before she bent down and kissed him again. She would never have thought that she loved kissing him so much.


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so, so, so much for the awesome comments! I know, that kiss has been a long time coming and I can assure you, it wasn't an April Fools prank.

There was something surreal about the moment, something magical, and the Doctor wasn't entirely sure that he wasn't dreaming. It felt like a dream, kissing Clara, touching her and for a moment, the Doctor thought he was going to burst into laughter. Missy's plan had worked. Her utterly insane plan to woo Clara had actually worked. He smiled against her lips when Clara climbed on top of him, unable to hold back any longer. Finally, after waiting for years, she was his.

Suddenly, Clara broke their kiss and sucked in her breath before she came to look at him. “Everything okay?” she asked.

The Doctor couldn't help but beam at her in reply. He didn't even know what to say. He was just happy.

“Alright,” Clara remarked with a smirk, obviously reading the approval from his face. “Shall we take our clothes off?”

It seemed that his heart stopped for a brief moment when the Doctor remembered one important detail. He had waited for years, he had hoped for this to happen every single day ever since he had met her and now that the moment had finally come, it seemed as if it was ruined by the tiniest detail.

The Doctor reached into his trouser pocket and frantically pulled out his wallet where he kept a single condom just in case, but as he looked at the date printed on the packaging, his heart sank into his boots. It seemed that he had waited a little too long.

“Doctor?” Clara asked curiously, a hint of a laugh in her voice when she noticed his expression. “What's the matter?”

He threw her an apologetic glance. “Expiration date,” the Doctor said simply and his hopes vanished in an instant.

Yet to his surprise, Clara started to laugh as she took the condom from him and cast it aside. “You really need to get laid,” she chuckled and bent down to kiss him again, but the Doctor kept her at a distance. He really didn't want to get his hopes up again. “I'm on the pill, silly.”

The Doctor opened his mouth to respond, but Clara cut him off before he had a chance. “Shut up and take my clothes off,” she demanded with a broad smile.

 

He didn't wait for her to repeat herself when he pulled her down on top of him and locked their lips in another kiss. Magical. That was what it felt like. The sensation of her body so close to his own, knowing that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her, kissing her until they ran out of air. The Doctor never wanted this feeling to stop.

With trembling fingers, he started to unbutton her blouse and Clara seemed just as eager to relieve him of his clothes as their limbs were getting in the way of each other and he kept getting distracted by her kisses. At last, when Clara had thrown his shirt aside, the Doctor turned them over and climbed on top of her. He kissed his way down her neck, determined to cover every inch of her skin with his lips while Clara struggled to pull down his pants. She was impatient and it didn't help his own growing feeling of arousal as she reached between them and wrapped her hand around his member.

Suddenly, a sound of frustration escaped her mouth while the Doctor was still trying to focus on not giving in to his burgeoning urges.

“Doctor,” she gasped his name as he continued his path of kisses down towards her breasts. “Doctor, please.”

When he didn't react, Clara gave him a soft push until he landed on his back again and Clara leaned over him, smiling. “I really appreciate this, but could we maybe skip this part and get to the point?”

He frowned at her in reply. “Uhm, the. . . the point?” he spluttered.

“Nevermind,” she replied, chuckling breathlessly. “I'll show you.”

With a smile, Clara straddled his lap and bent down to kiss him roughly. Her hand wandered back to his cock and the Doctor uttered a soft moan as she started to stroke him again, a little more determinedly this time. He had dreamed about this so many times and he realized that the reality was infinitely better than his imagination. The touch of her hand alone was enough to send ripples through his body, to make him crave more, to move his hips to her rhythm while he was growing harder in her fist.

Clara moaned into his mouth as he followed her lead and led his hands towards her body, towards her sex and the Doctor felt a little thrill shoot through his abdomen when he found her already wet. She was grinding against his hand, her body begging for more until at last, she led him towards her entrance. She broke their kiss when she lowered herself on top of him and the Doctor heard her suck in her breath while he was trying his best to suppress another moan. As her heat engulfed him completely, the Doctor sank back into the pillows and decided that she could do whatever the hell she wanted as long as she didn't stop.

Still, the Doctor couldn't say whether he was caught in a dream or not, but for the moment, it didn't seem to matter at all. The sounds she made urged him on, causing him to thrust up and meet her, to dive into her a little more frantically by the minute. He wanted so much to please her, to make her fall apart just like he was beginning to melt underneath her, so he lowered he hand back to her sex and started teasing her clit while Clara continued to drive herself down on top of him. She gasped when he was beginning to speed up his movements and the Doctor could tell that she was close by her ragged breathing, but it became increasingly hard to focus when the sensation of her was so overwhelming that he thought he was going to derail any moment.

The Doctor sat up, desperately pulling Clara deeper onto his lap as he buried himself inside of her. When he crushed their lips together in a breathless, sloppy kiss, she whimpered into his mouth. Her movements were uncoordinated and frantic as she was closing in on her orgasm and as her muscles started pulsing around his member. Even though he was desperate for air, desperate to let himself go, the Doctor kept on kissing her and thrust into her again. Clara cried out and her head fell back while her climax pushed him over the edge at last. His own orgasm ripped through him like a violent wave that seemed to reach every last cell in his body and with a groan, he released himself inside of her.

 

Panting and desperate for air, they disentangled themselves from their embrace and the Doctor leaned back into the sheets. His body was still tingling all over in the afterglow and it would be a while until his heartbeat and breathing returned to normal.

He turned to look at Clara, but to his surprise, she was avoiding his gaze. As if by instinct, he looked away again. She was naked and sweaty, her body glowing and somehow, it seemed wrong to look at her like that when she was so vulnerable.

“Uhm,” she uttered awkwardly then cleared her throat. The Doctor had no idea what she wanted to say. “Thanks.”

“ _Thanks?_ ” he asked in disbelief. That was the last thing he had expected to hear from her.

“Yeah, well, you know.” Clara paused. “It was. . . good. Very good. Incredibly good.”

The Doctor had no idea what to reply and when he thought he confusion had finally ended, he found that he felt more confused than ever. They had finally admitted to their attraction, they had slept together. He had expected to feel happy, not awkward. When Clara turned towards the bedside table, the Doctor suddenly got a sinking feeling. Maybe he had made everything worse by sleeping with her.

“Wow, is that the time?” Clara asked, a pretend sound of surprise in her voice. “We should probably try to get some sleep.”

Even though Clara couldn't see it with her head turned away from him, the Doctor nodded. “Yeah, probably.”

Slowly, he rose from the bed and reached for his clothes that Clara had spread over the entire hotel room floor in her frenzy. While he got dressed, the Doctor racked his brain for something to say, for something that could make everything better again, for a way to turn back time and undo this silly thing they had just done, but his mind was utterly empty. When he closed the hotel room door behind him, the Doctor thought that this time, he had definitely messed up. Whatever happened from now on, their friendship would never be the same again.


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, where's the cheering? They finally did it! Why are you being so pessimistic? Oh wait. . . haha XD Yeah, sorry about that. And thank you guys so much for your lovely comments!

The Doctor hadn't been tired initially, but once they had checked in their luggage and sat down at the small airport café, he could feel the exhaustion creep up on him and the cup of bad coffee only seemed to make it worse. He hadn't slept for a single minute and after an hour, the Doctor had given up trying and now here he was, completely and utterly knackered, too tired to even think about what he and Clara had done last night. She didn't look much better as she nibbled listlessly at her croissant. At last, she seemed to give up and dropped the rest on her plate. The Doctor eyed it with interest.

“You're not hungry?” he asked carefully.

Clara inhaled deeply, still glancing at her croissant with a hint of disgust. “Not really,” she replied.

“Do you, uhm,” he paused. “Do you wanna pack it for later or-”

Her head shot up and for the first time, she smiled at him. “You could have ordered something too, you know?” Clara remarked as she pushed the plate in his direction.

Reluctantly, he reached for the croissant but pulled his hand away at the last moment. “Are you sure you don't want it?”

“Eat it!” Clara told him in a strict manner. It lasted a moment before she started laughing again. “This is the most expensive croissant I've ever had. Would be a shame to just throw it out.”

“Alright,” the Doctor grumbled in reply, picked it up and took a large bite. As soon as he started chewing, he was suddenly overcome by the urge to cough and spit the entire thing back out and he probably would have done hadn't they been sitting in the middle of a crowded airport café. He suppressed the reflex as best as he could while his face probably turned scarlet red, judging by Clara's cackling laughter. “Oh God, this is the worst croissant I've ever tasted.”

Clara was still chuckling and covering her mouth with her hand.

“You could've warned me!” the Doctor complained.

“Funnier this way,” she replied with a shrug. Then she started to giggle once again.

The Doctor threw a dark glance at the croissant before he dropped it back on the plate. It crumbled apart on impact.

Since the coffee was tolerable, he decided to focus on that because they still had some time to kill before the departure and he noticed that Clara had fallen silent again as well. When the Doctor dared to look at her, she was looking into her coffee cup as if it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen and suddenly, his mind wandered back to last night. What would happen now?

Naturally, the Doctor wanted to repeat it. In fact, he wanted to do nothing but kiss her for the rest of his life, but he didn't think that Clara actually wanted the same thing. He had no idea what it meant to her, what she had been thinking and he so desperately wanted to find out.

“Clara,” he began carefully, “about last night-”

She looked up in an instant. Was that fear in her large eyes? “Hey, wanna check out the shops before we board the plane? They have a huge bookshop,” she asked him, her voice sounding a little too nervous.

Clara didn't want to talk about last night. She wanted to pretend that it never happened and the Doctor realized that he had been stupid to assume anything else. They were friends and that was it, no matter how much he hoped that it was different.

So instead of pressing the matter, the Doctor put on a smile. “Of course,” he replied. “Can't say no to a bookshop, can I?”

Clara returned his smile for a brief moment before she lowered her gaze back to the coffee in front of her while the Doctor prayed that he hadn't lost her for good.

* * *

As soon as the door closed behind her, Clara dropped her bags in the hall. Uttering a sigh, she sank back against the wall and closed her eyes.

“Fuck,” she muttered and slapped her flat hand against her forehead. “Stupid, stupid Clara!”

She truly had the unique talent of making a mess of everything, especially when men were involved. What had she even been thinking? She couldn't just seduce the Doctor and then expect everything to go back to normal. What would he think of her now? Thank God Clara had had the sense to cut him off at the restaurant before he was able to give her an embarrassing speech about how she was a lovely girl but he just didn't feel that way for her.

What did Clara feel?

Apart from the confusion, she really couldn't say for sure. Clara had feelings for the Doctor, that much was obvious and last night really hadn't made anything better in that department. She was right. They were perfect for each other in every sense – except that the Doctor only saw her as a friend. But then why had he slept with her? For the same reason she had? Because he had felt like it? If only she had let him finish his sentence earlier. Maybe then she would have known.

As her phone rang in her pocket, Clara was torn out of her thoughts and when she drew out the device and looked at the screen, she felt her heart sink.

**NotSantaClaus**  
_Did you have a nice time in Paris? I assume you'll be back by now._

A couple of messages had gathered in her inbox over the past few days and Clara felt like slapping herself when she realized she had completely forgotten about Basil while she had had so much fun with the Doctor. Why was she like this? She had a crush on Basil, she liked Basil, he could be the perfect match for her and she had completely ignored him. Looking at his messages now, it felt a little weird because the only reason she fancied him was that he reminded her of the Doctor. It wasn't fair and she knew it, but how could she resist when they were so alike and she couldn't have the original? Maybe it was time to come clean at last, time to tell Basil what was going on in her head. She couldn't tell the Doctor, so the next best thing would have to do. Maybe he would have the right advice for her.

 **ClaraOswald86**  
_I am so sorry I didn't reply to you sooner. Paris was lovely, but that's not an excuse for ignoring your messages. Can I be completely honest with you and tell you something? Right now, my head is a mess and I don't know what to do._

_While we were in Paris, something happened between me and my travel companion and I don't know how he feels about it. Truth is, I've had a crush on him for years and I never really realized it because I'm a proper idiot. I don't think he'll ever feel that way about me. We've been friends for way too long for that and he's quite shy and awkward in that area. When you first messaged me, I liked you from the very first moment because somehow, you remind me of him. Oh God, you have every right to ignore my messages from now on because I'm a horrible person and you deserve more than being a substitute._

_But the truth is that I really like you both and I have no idea what to do about it. Please, if you could just say something, that would be great. I'm really, really lost and I just need a point in the right direction, any direction._

Clara exhaled sharply once she had sent the message and leaned back against the wall again, hoping that his reply would be quick. Yet before she slipped the phone back into her pocket, Clara decided to send one more message to Amy because she was in dire need of a good girl talk.

_Back from Paris. Brought wine. Girls' night?_


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clara confessed her feelings at last - but how will the Doctor react when he reads it?
> 
> Thank you so much for all your lovely, excited comments :D We don't have so many more chapters left, so it's time to bring on the action, isn't it?

Amy’s eyes widened more and more the longer Clara’s story went on. While she was clutching her wine glass, she decided to start from the beginning. The date with Basil, how he had chickened out and how the Doctor had shown up instead. That was when her friend first interrupted her monologue.

“Wait a second,” Amy said and leaned forward, throwing Clara an inquisitive look. “The Doctor showed up to your date with Basil?!”

“Ugh, I was so furious at first,” Clara complained loudly. Even now, after everything that had happened in between that Amy didn’t even know about yet, Clara was still just a little bit mad. If he ever did something like that again, he wouldn’t get away with it so easily. “But he apologized and he said he was worried about me because of Basil and that he won’t do it again.”

Amy scoffed. “Worried isn’t what I’d call it,” she muttered under her breath and Clara was fully aware that her friend was insinuating that the Doctor was jealous. Maybe she was even right about that. Right now, it didn’t matter because the worst of her story was yet to come. Clara dreaded her reaction just a little as well as the obligatory _I told you so_.

“Anyway, when we got to Paris, I forgave him,” Clara went on to explain. “It just didn’t feel right to be so very mad at him when he hadn’t really done any damage at all and I didn’t want to ruin our trip.”

Her friend nodded understandingly. “So, the trip was good?”

Clara bit down on her lip in response. She had asked Amy here for her advice, she had asked her here to pour her heart out and now, she wasn’t entirely sure how to start without sounding utterly mad. The Doctor had been her friend for years and Clara had denied being in love with him over and over again until quite recently. Oh, she hated it when others were right.

“The trip was amazing,” she admitted eventually and decided to tell Amy the entire story. The sights, the walks, the meals, the wonderful evening at the Moulin Rouge. As Clara went on, she felt almost as if she was still in Paris, walking along the Seine, arm in arm with the Doctor and she felt the butterflies return at the mere memory of it. Everything about him had felt so right – up until the minute after they had had sex.

“Neither of us was really tired after the show, so we went back to the hotel and opened a bottle of wine,” Clara explained and then paused. Amy seemed to listen to her intently and Clara lowered her gaze because she really didn't want to see her friend's reaction when she finally came out with it. “And then we had sex.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Clara noticed that Amy turned her head and for a moment, her friend didn't say anything. Then she started to giggle. “I'm still listening. There's no need to test me.”

Clara inhaled deeply. “Not a test.”

“Yeah, right,” Amy snorted. “Cause you and the Doctor would just casually go to your room and have sex.”

“Well, we did,” she replied meekly and finally gathered the courage to look her friend in the eye. Amy's expression switched from amusement to disbelief to shock. She gawked at her only moments later.

“Oh my God!” Amy exclaimed once the realisation struck her. Then, Clara felt her pinch her elbow. “I've been here for an hour! How come you took so long to tell me that you had sex with the Doctor?! Why do you always wait with the most important news?!”

“Because I have no idea what it means!” Clara raised her voice when she replied.

“Of course you do! You're finally a couple now, aren't you? You had sex, you admitted that you're in love with each other and now you're gonna get married and have 2.3 children!”

Clara shot her friend a dark glance. “We haven't talked about anything,” she told her. “I regretted it as soon as I came back to my senses because something like that could ruin our friendship. And it was really awkward between us afterwards. I basically kicked him out.”

Suddenly, Amy reached for her hand and squeezed it softly. When Clara looked into her eyes, they were so full of compassion that it almost lifted her spirits. But only almost.

“Clara, I need to ask you a question and I need you to be completely honest with me,” she said. “Are you in love with him?”

Clara took a deep breath before she replied, but even then, the words wouldn't come over her lips. Instead, she nodded.

“You need to tell him. For all you know, the Doctor could be feeling the exact same thing and he's confused cause he has no idea how you feel about him.

“There's something else,” she admitted gravely. “I also have a crush on Basil and I know he's interested because he told me.”

Her friend uttered an audible sigh, but Clara didn't get a chance to respond when her phone suddenly beeped next to them on the table. She knew that it could only be either the Doctor or Basil. She would have to make a decision.

* * *

The Doctor had turned his entire house upside down. He had searched the bedroom, bathroom, living room, office, the corridor even twice until he had realized that the phone he was looking for had been in the side pocket of his suitcase since he had stuffed it there after landing in London. The sleep deprivation really didn't help his memory. However, once he had found and charged it, the Doctor noticed a message in the inbox of the MatchMaker app and he instantly went to check it. He read it and he read it again and then, he read it a third time because somehow, he thought that this could only be the product of his sleep-deprived head.

**ClaraOswald86**  
_I am so sorry I didn't reply to you sooner. Paris was lovely, but that's not an excuse for ignoring your messages. Can I be completely honest with you and tell you something? Right now, my head is a mess and I don't know what to do._

_While we were in Paris, something happened between me and my travel companion and I don't know how he feels about it. Truth is, I've had a crush on him for years and I never really realized it because I'm a proper idiot. I don't think he'll ever feel that way about me. We've been friends for way too long for that and he's quite shy and awkward in that area. When you first messaged me, I liked you from the very first moment because somehow, you remind me of him. Oh God, you have every right to ignore my messages from now on because I'm a horrible person and you deserve more than being a substitute._

_But the truth is that I really like you both and I have no idea what to do about it. Please, if you could just say something, that would be great. I'm really, really lost and I just need a point in the right direction, any direction._

His heart was hammering inside his chest as the Doctor read those words that Clara had written immediately upon her return to her flat and suddenly, he felt like the stupidest idiot on the entire planet. _I've had a crush on him for years._ He read the words over and over and over again until he finally believed them and a smile spread across his face when he realized what it meant for him, what it meant for them.

A part of him wanted to grab his coat and run to her flat to tell her that he was in love with her and always had been, but a glance at the clock told him that Clara would most likely be asleep by now. Yet he couldn't wait to tell her. He couldn't wait to be with her at last.  
Finally knowing what to do, the Doctor decided to surprise her.

**NotSantaClaus**  
_My Clara,_  
_I have to see you! Please, come to the restaurant tomorrow evening. I promise, this time, I won't chicken out again. I'll be there and we can talk face to face and maybe then you'll know what to do._  
_Basil._


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so, so, so much for all your lovely, impatient, terrified comments :D And now, let's see how Clara will react *drumroll*

For some reason, Clara didn't feel quite as nervous as the first time as she stepped inside the restaurant. She was a little nervous, but a normal amount. This time, she had managed to get ready without the emotional support of her best friend. She had picked a lovely dress, she had curled her hair and she had put on some makeup to cover the bags under her eyes that still hadn't faded even though she thought she had caught up on at least some of her needed sleep. Tonight, Clara was feeling pretty and confident and absolutely ready to finally meet Basil.

It occurred to her that maybe she was more curious than nervous because they had been talking for what felt like an eternity and it was almost as if she had known him for years thanks to the many things they had in common. It was high time for them to talk face to face even though she wasn't quite sure what had compelled him to send her that message last night. Maybe it was a hint of jealousy because he had a rival, maybe he was just as curious about her, but the important thing was that Clara would meet him at last. And maybe, just maybe, she would then know what to do.

The restaurant was busy for a weekday and almost every table seemed already taken. Basil had made a reservation, hadn't he? Clara hoped that he had.

She clutched her purse in her hand and looked around the room, hoping to spot a man with grey hair, a man that could be Basil, a man whose face would light up at the sight of her. She looked around and around, scanning every table, every man in the room and she didn't even notice the one man that got out of his chair to approach her until he came up from behind and he gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Hello Clara.”

Her entire body went rigid from one moment to the next and her heart almost jumped out of her chest when she heard his voice, that deep, gravelly, _familiar_ voice. Clara had heard it say her name a million times, but this time, it went marrow-deep. She swallowed hard and tried to fight the tears that came to her eyes while some part of her mind was still trying to deny the truth. It couldn't be him.

At last, she turned around and when the Doctor was smiling at her, the tears just came. There was no holding them back. Why was she crying? Clara had no idea.

“I believe I have a confession to make,” the Doctor said and granted her an apologetic smile. “I should have told you a long time ago, but I'm not exactly proud of my parents' choice. My name is Basil.”

“You,” Clara breathed in response, but no other words followed. She had no idea what to say, no idea what to think. Suddenly, it seemed too hot inside this restaurant and she sucked the air into her lungs, but it wasn't enough. She needed air. She needed to think. She needed to get out.

Without thinking, Clara turned on her heels and darted out of the door and she didn't stop until she put several metres between herself and the restaurant. Even though she knew that it was true, a part of her mind still couldn't quite fathom what it meant. The Doctor was Basil. Basil was the Doctor. It felt like she should have known. They were the same person. He had even shown up to their date and she hadn't seen it. Clara was so damn blind.

“Clara, wait!” the Doctor called after her and she heard his steps as he followed her. “I'm sorry, okay?! I'm sorry that I lied to you! Please, wait!”

She stopped and turned around to look at him. There he was, her Doctor, dressed in an impeccable suit, looking as handsome as ever. Right now, she couldn't believe how she needed years to realize that she was in love. The tears came back in earnest now and there was no stopping them. They were flowing down her cheeks, blurring her sight of the Doctor.

“I'm so sorry,” the Doctor apologized once again and closed the distance between them. Gently, he placed his hands on her arms. “Please, don't cry. I know that what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have tricked you and I'm sorry. I'm an idiot.”

“Yes,” Clara sobbed in reply. God, she wanted to punch him right now. They had taken almost five years because they had both been so stupid. “Yes, you're an idiot and so am I.”

The Doctor frowned at her in response.

“I wanted it to be you,” she told him through her tears. “All those years, I wanted it to be you and I didn't realize it until now. There has never been anyone else for me, it could never have been anyone but you.”

“Then why are you crying?” the Doctor wanted to know and Clara realized that he was still holding on to her arms and pulling her closer. She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him and never stop.

“I don't know!” Clara complained. “Cause I'm stupid and you're stupid for never saying a thing!”

To her surprise, the Doctor started to laugh and he raised his hands to cup her cheeks in his palms. “I love you, Clara Oswald,” he told her, smiling from ear to ear. “I've loved you ever since you first stepped into my shop and I don't think I'll ever stop. You're short and bossy and it's been insanely annoying to watch you date all those men without even looking at me, but I love you. Now, please, stop crying. I can't stand it when you do that.”

Clara couldn't help it. His words were making her chuckle despite her tears and she was still smiling when the Doctor bent down and kissed her lips.

It was the best feeling in the entire universe and she wanted to slap herself for not knowing it, for not seeing it. The Doctor loved her, she loved him and they were made for each other. It was so clear to her now, it made so much sense and Clara didn't think she had ever been happier in her entire life.

When they broke the kiss at last, Clara's tears had stopped and she was smiling at him, knowing that she would never let him go ever again. He was hers now. Her best friend, her partner, her other half. It was more than perfect.

“I love you, too,” she said sincerely and then laughed once again. “But we're still idiots.”

“I can't argue with that,” the Doctor replied with a shrug. “But the important thing is that we're being honest now, right? You and me, we both want the same thing?”

Clara nodded, still grinning at him and the Doctor exhaled sharply as if in relief.

“Good,” he concluded. “Now, I made a reservation at a restaurant that is in great demand-”

“Oh, sod the restaurant!” Clara replied with a waving gestured before she reached out and grabbed the Doctor by the lapels of his coat. When he looked a little surprised, Clara beamed at him. “You and me, we're gonna go home right now. We have a lot to catch up on.”

The Doctor needed a moment to understand what exactly Clara was talking about, but once it dawned on him, he smiled back at her. “We can grab takeout on the way home?” he suggested instead.

“That's the spirit.”


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They finally confessed their feelings, they're happy. . . but the story isn't over yet, is it? ;)
> 
> Thank you so much for the lovely comments! Glad to see you're all as happy as the Doctor and Clara are. . . for now.

It was the happiest day in his life. The Doctor determined that the moment he woke up and found Clara still in bed next to him, smiling softly in her sleep. It had taken them almost five years, but for some reason, the Doctor couldn't bring himself to regret even a single second of them because it had been so worth it. He loved Clara, Clara loved him and nothing could tear them apart ever again. He was the luckiest guy on the planet because he had her.

Quietly, the Doctor turned around and attempted to sneak into the kitchen to make breakfast when Clara suddenly stirred next to him. He wanted to curse because he had fantasized about waking her with breakfast in bed.

“Where do you think you're going?” she mumbled sleepily and her hand reached out and got hold of his arm, holding him back.

When Clara opened her eyes to blink at him, the Doctor granted her a smile. “I was gonna make breakfast. I'll be back in a bit,” he promised her in a hushed voice.

“No,” she grumbled in response. “Stay. Cuddle.”

She gave his arm a soft tug and the Doctor gave in. He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her lips before he smiled at her again, wondering if Clara was as happy as he was right now while he wrapped his arms back around her.

“I believe last night we cuddled enough to last a lifetime,” the Doctor remarked after a while, but it wasn't a complaint. Far from it. He had loved every second of it.

To his surprise, Clara started to giggle. “I wouldn't really call that cuddling.”

“Part of it was cuddling,” he argued with a shrug.

Suddenly, Clara fell silent and when the Doctor looked at her, she seemed more serious than she had a moment ago and he could tell that there was something on her mind that she wanted to say and a part of him dreaded what was to come. He already had an inkling what it was about. The following conversation was inevitable.

“Why did you get that stupid app?” Clara enquired. “Why did you pose as someone else to talk to me?”

The Doctor inhaled deeply. He wasn't very proud of what he had done, of what Missy had convinced him to do and he knew that there was no real excuse for it. “I never posed as someone else. That was me. I'm Basil.”

“You know what I mean.”

He hesitated for a moment, not quite sure how to tell her, how to reply to her question. He couldn't tell her the entire truth. Clara could never find out about the extent of it. “It was Missy's idea,” the Doctor confessed eventually.

“Ah.” She sighed. “I should have known. This entire thing reeks of Missy.”

“I wasn't exactly thrilled at first either,” he went on. “But Missy knew that I was in love and too shy to ever say anything. She wanted to help me out. Even though her idea wasn't the best one, she really meant well this time.”

“This time?”

The Doctor shook his head. No, he couldn't tell her about the other things Missy had done. “I didn't want to play along, not really, but it was a little too tempting. And when I realized it was sort of working, I thought I might stand a chance.”

Clara scoffed in reply and then began to laugh. “You mean until you successfully chickened out?”

“Yeah,” the Doctor breathed and then blew the air out between his teeth. That first meeting in the restaurant really hadn't gone too well.

“I'm sorry I had such a go at you,” Clara apologized before she laughed a little more. “Oh my God, Amy is going to laugh herself to death when I tell her about this. You should have said you were my date the first time!”

“What? While you were shouting at me? You think you'd have taken that well? No, thanks.”

Clara chuckled. “Okay, good point,” she replied and the paused for a moment. The Doctor could only imagine how hard it must have been to say the words that followed. “Next time you see Missy, tell her thanks. I appreciate the meddling. _This time._ If she ever does something like that again, it's gonna be the last thing she does.”

The Doctor granted her a reluctant smile. “So, we're good? You're not mad about the little trick?”

He felt relieved when Clara shook her head, smiling softly.

“I love you, Clara.”

“And I love you,” she replied, suddenly grinning, “Basil.”

The Doctor uttered a groan. “Okay, can we please stick to Doctor? I'm not exactly fond of that name.”

“Alright,” Clara agreed, still smiling. “I don't care as long as I get to call you mine.”

 

Eventually, the Doctor managed to coax her out of bed and into the kitchen where he immediately set out to prepare breakfast. He wasn't entirely sure why, but for some reason, Clara had insisted on wearing his shirt and he had to admit that he quite liked the sight of her wearing it. There was something so intimate about it, something so familiar and homely. The Doctor had missed having a woman in his life and he only now realized how much. But the good news was that Clara was here to stay. He just knew it.

Clara took a large sip from her coffee mug as she plopped down in one of the chairs and pulled the morning newspaper in her direction. Was that their new routine? The Doctor wasn't entirely sure, but he liked it anyway. He liked everything that involved Clara and for a brief moment, he wondered if it was too soon to ask her to move in with him. They had known each other for almost five years, but they had only confessed their feelings last night. Was it too soon? The Doctor didn't want to waste any more time. 

It seemed as if Clara had read his mind. “I should probably leave some clothes here,” she said casually. “When I come back to my flat still wearing my evening dress, people will know exactly what happened.”

“Well, uhm,” the Doctor replied and then cleared his throat, “I have a huge wardrobe and it's almost empty. There's more than enough space for your clothes. All of them.”

Clara looked up and shot him an inquisitive look. For a moment, he thought he had gone too far, but then she smiled at him. “Well, I suppose I could move them here bit by bit?”

He beamed at her in reply and to his surprise, Clara started to chuckle again. “Amy is really going to freak out when she hears that we're a couple. Two days ago, she told me that we'd get married and have 2.3 children and I almost called her crazy and now look at us!”

The Doctor's mouth fell open at the mention of it and he racked his brain for a suitable answer, but he couldn't come up with one. He wasn't opposed to getting married and having children, but that was something he didn't actually want to happen right away. After having a seemingly hopeless crush for almost five years, the Doctor needed a bit of time to let the good news sink in, he needed a bit of time to enjoy it.

“Oh God, I'm sorry,” Clara spluttered instantly. “Amy's thinking too far ahead. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that.”

In response, he uttered a nervous laugh. “It's not that. It's a nice thought, really,” the Doctor reassured her. “But can I just have you to myself for a while?”

“Of course,” she said sincerely. “Forget the marriage and kids part. I mean, not completely. Don't forget it completely. Just for now.”

To ease her mind, the Doctor chuckled softly. “I don't mind marriage and 2.3 kids, but consider it forgotten for the time being.”

“Good,” Clara concluded with a sigh of relief. “Just for the record, I don't mind it either. I mean, in general.”

“And in general, would you like the .3 part of the child to be the top or the bottom half? Cause we should probably discuss that beforehand,” the Doctor asked, deadpan.

For a moment, Clara merely stared at him before it started to dawn on her. “Oh, stop teasing me, you idiot,” she complained half-heartedly.

“You know what we should do?”

Clara cocked her eyebrows at him expectantly.

“We should go out tonight and celebrate,” he suggested. “I was going to be romantic yesterday and take you to a nice restaurant, but that didn't quite work out, did it?”

Her face lit up in an instant. “It sounds like a marvellous idea.”


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the sweet comments, guys :) I hope you don't mind a cameo of an old "friend"

Clara loved him. She loved the Italian restaurant he had chosen, she loved the soft way he spoke with her, she loved how he had chosen a suit just to take her out on an ordinary weekday and above all, she loved the way he looked at her as if she was the most precious thing in the entire world. Clara wanted to laugh at herself because of how stupid she had been. Had the Doctor always looked at her like that and she just hadn't noticed? Was he just as happy as she felt right now?

“Thank you,” Clara said after they had finished their meal.

The Doctor placed his fork aside and raised his head to look at her, a sort of puzzled look on his face. “For what?”

“Bringing me here,” she replied, smiling. “The restaurant is lovely. Where did you find it?”

“Uhm,” he paused. “On Google.”

His reluctant reply made her chuckle. “Fair enough,” she said with a shrug and picked up the napkin from her lap. “I'm gonna go and powder my nose. Back in a second.”

“Your nose looks fine to me,” the Doctor deadpanned.

Clara rolled her eyes, giggling. “It means I'm going to the loo, silly.”

As she made her way towards the bathrooms, Clara considered all the dates she had had in the previous months and how badly all of them had gone wrong while the Doctor had been waiting for her the entire time. It was insane. How could two people have been so stupid for so damn long? But none of that mattered anymore. They were together at last.

Clara had only just stepped into the back when she suddenly collided with someone else and the man dropped a stack of menus on the floor during their collision.

“Oh God, I'm sorry!” she mumbled immediately and bent down to help him pick up the menus. “I should watch where I'm going.”

When she came back up and attempted to hand the menus back to the man, however, Clara stopped abruptly as she looked into the man's face.

“Jason,” she blurted out instantly. “I, uhm, what a surprise. What are you doing here?”

Her former date laughed softly as he took the menus from her. “I work here. I'm the chef, remember?”

“Right!” Clara replied. “Of course. Well, the meal was lovely, so, uhm, thanks. Also thanks for not poisoning it after I ran out on our date.”

Jason granted her a smile and suddenly, Clara felt truly horrible. Jason was one of the more decent guys she had gone out with – at least up until he had asked her about her sex change – and she had ignored all of his messages ever since.

“You didn't poison it, did you?”

“No,” he replied sincerely, a friendly expression on his face. “I actually noticed you when you came in with your date. Seems to go better than the one we had.”

“He's my boyfriend,” Clara explained, smiling at him. “It's still quite new, but it's good.”

Jason nodded understandingly and Clara was about to move on when he suddenly blocked her path once again. “Listen, can I apologize for my behaviour that day?”

“Uhm,” she paused and frowned at him. Not only had she not expected to see him again, but the apology took her by surprise. “Sure.”

“I really enjoyed the date we had and I thought you are a lovely woman and I had absolutely no right to ask you such a personal question during our first meeting. It was insensitive and I realize that I blew it. I just wanted to let you know that I felt terrible about it afterwards.”

“Why _did_ you ask me?” Clara demanded to know. “I mean, it's not really a typical thing to ask someone whether they had had a sex change on the first date. No, actually, it's quite ludicrous. Why would you ask something like that?”

“I got a tip-off from another guy on the app,” Jason explained. “He messaged me, said he saw you on my friends list and that he went out with you and was surprised to learn that you had been a man. I don't know, I think he felt the need to _warn_ people.”

“ _What?!_ ” she almost barked at him in response. “That's a lie! That's completely made up! Why would someone message you to spread lies about me?!”

It was unbelievable. Clara could only imagine that it had been one of the other guys she had gone out with and that he had done it out of spite because their date had ended in a disaster. However, all of the dates she had found through the app had ended in a disaster. That left a pretty long list of suspects. Not one of them had gone well. But what if it wasn't any of them? What if it was someone else entirely? Could it be that there was somebody out there who was purposefully ruining her dates?

“I'm sorry,” Jason apologized once again. “I shouldn't have believed a random guy, but. . . I don't know. It was my first attempt at dating after a messy breakup and I didn't think, I was nervous. I'm sorry.”

Clara nodded slowly. “Apology accepted,” she whispered, but her thoughts still circled around the mysterious saboteur. Who could it be and why? Clara couldn't think of a single person who would be capable of that. Except maybe one. _This time. She really meant well this time._

“That being said, I'm happy you found someone,” Jason went on and he sounded sincere. When she looked back at him, he was smiling at her. “Your boyfriend certainly loves you. I can tell by the way he looks at you.”

Clara glanced back and spotted the Doctor through the window in the door. He was obviously waiting for her to return. _She really meant well this time._ No, it was ridiculous. The Doctor would never let Missy do something like that to her and how would Missy even figure out who she was talking to on a silly app? It had to be one of the men she had gone out with.

“Tell you what, I'm gonna send you two a desert on the house.”

She spun back around and looked at Jason who was still smiling at her. “Oh, you don't have to, really.”

“I want to,” he said sincerely. “It's the least I can do.”

Finally, Clara cracked a smile. “Alright,” she agreed eventually. “I hope you'll find someone, too. Maybe not on the app because there are some freaky people on there, but there has to be a nice woman for you somewhere in London.”

“Thank you,” Jason said. “And I'll be sure not to ask her if she used to be a man.”

Clara giggled at him. “Yeah, better not.”

 

When she returned to the Doctor, Clara had almost forgotten about the incident with Jason until their desert arrived and Clara had to explain to the Doctor that one of her failed dates was the chef at this restaurant.

“And you're sure he didn't poison it?” the Doctor asked cautiously. “You know, to get rid of the competition?”

“Absolutely,” Clara confirmed happily. “It was the guy with the sex change question. He felt terrible afterwards, so this is his way of saying sorry.”

“Ah,” the Doctor replied and then averted his eyes. For some reason, that tiny gesture made Clara wary. Maybe Missy did have something to do with it and the Doctor had known about it for months.

No, what a silly thought. The Doctor knew how badly she had taken the failed dates, he wouldn't let Missy hurt her like that. He was probably just insecure because she had taken so long to realize that she was in love with him. Clara decided to change the subject.

“How long has it been since I told you that I love you?” she asked.

Carefully, the Doctor looked back up. “Uhm, an hour or two?”

She grinned at him. “That's definitely too long,” she reasoned. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he replied, but Clara didn't fail to notice the hint of sadness in his voice. It was sadness, wasn't it? It was either that or guilt and if it was the latter, then he knew something. For some reason, Clara dreaded the truth.


	42. Chapter 42

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for your comments! I know you're all terrified of Clara finding out the truth, but she has to, doesn't she?

The Doctor looked at Clara and somehow, he thought that she fit right in. There was something so lovely about the sight of her sitting cross-legged amidst the stacks of new records that needed sorting into the shelves of his shop and she seemed entirely lost in the activity of looking through every single one and checking for scratches. She had even set some of them aside to buy later.

“You really don't have to help me, you know?” the Doctor said after a while when he had put a Bowie record aside. “You should use the summer break to. . . I don't know. . . do summer things.”

“Mh,” she hummed in reply, not taking her eyes off a Joan Baez album that seemed to have caught her interest. “I'm not really a summer things type of girl.”

Finally, she lifted her head and smiled at him. “Besides, it's raining and at least I get to spend the day with you.”

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her. “You don't seem to enjoy it very much,” he remarked and he knew he was right. He had known Clara for years and he could tell what mood she was in. Today, it wasn't a particularly good one and he wasn't sure why that was. He couldn't remember doing something to upset her.

“It's not that,” Clara replied and uttered a sigh while she placed the Baez album on the _to buy_ stack. “There's just something on my mind.”

“What is it?” the Doctor enquired. “Maybe I can help you with it. If you're wondering whether you should buy the Manfred Mann album, then that's a definite yes.”

Clara granted him a soft smile in response and when she sighed again, he knew that it was something more serious than that. And he really hoped that he could help her with it. The last few days had been utterly perfect and the Doctor wanted to hold on to the perfection of their new, fresh romance for as long as he could.

“Remember the restaurant we went to a few days ago? Where I met Jason?”

“Uhm, yeah?” he asked carefully. The Doctor really didn't like the direction their conversation was headed and suddenly, he regretted asking her about it.

“Well, he said something and I've been thinking about it for the last few days because it's a little weird,” Clara went on.

The Doctor didn't even get the chance to ask before she continued and he realized that his worst fears were coming true.

“He said he received a message from someone on the app and that the other guy had told him I used to be a man,” she explained. “That's weird, isn't it?”

He shrugged in response because he had no idea what to say without implementing himself. The Doctor just really wanted Clara to drop the matter because he still felt guilty about what he and Missy had done and a part of him just wanted to get it off his chest. “Well, I suppose it could've been another date guy who was mad because you didn't want him.”

“See, I thought that, too,” Clara replied and leaned forward a little, looking at him intently. “But all my dates went wrong and I never thought that the guys were really interested in me. In fact, all of them have been extremely strange and I realized something.”

“Uh,” he uttered, “and what is that?”

“They all seemed to _know_ something about me or _assumed_ to know,” she went on, her voice harsh and determined. “One thought I was a Star Trek fan and spoke to me in Klingon, another seemed pretty sure that I had kids and yet another one thought I liked to be groped in public.”

“They were all idiots,” the Doctor argued, trying to get her to drop the matter. If she continued digging, she would find something and she wouldn't like it.

Yet Clara ignored him in her rant. “I think Jason wasn't the only one to receive a message like that prior to a date with me. I think they all did.”

“So?” he asked carefully.

“If all of my dates got a message from the same person, it can't have been any of the date guys!”

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply, but he had no idea what to say to her. He wished he had a reasonable explanation for it, but he didn't. He only had the truth.

“You said Missy meant well this time,” she said and knitted her eyebrows at him. “What did you mean by _this time_?”

“Uhm,” he spluttered, but still, he couldn't come up with a lie. His mind was utterly empty and there was no excuse that he could use to defend himself. “Well, you know. . . uhm. . . Missy does weird things from time to time. I just said that creating a profile for me was. . . not her best idea. . . but she didn't do it to harm you.”

“Doctor,” Clara said and when he looked at her, he could see that she was serious. “Do you think it's possible that Missy sabotaged my dates?”

He couldn't lie. Not any longer. When the Doctor looked into her eyes, he just couldn't find it in his heart to deny it.

“I promise, I didn't know. At least not at first. I swear, I had no idea what she was up to until she had already sabotaged some of your dates!”

“ _You knew?!_ ”

As she spat the words, Clara rose to her feet and the Doctor instinctively followed her example. From one moment to the next, her mood had changed completely. At first, the Doctor had assumed she was just curious, that she wanted to find out the truth, but now, she seemed properly furious as she was glaring up at him.

“I'm sorry, Clara,” the Doctor said sincerely. “I was talking to Missy about how I couldn't believe how stupid those men were for not appreciating you and one day she told me that she was behind all of it. I was furious with her!”

“Not furious enough to tell me!” Clara shouted at him. “You should have told me, Doctor!”

“I know!” he said defensively. “I know that! But I knew you'd be hurt and I knew. . . I'm sorry. I really am. Trust me, I felt extremely guilty for not telling you.”

Clara paused and she seemed to consider his words for a moment. She wasn't mad enough to break up with him, was she? No, she couldn't. Then, her gaze darkened further.

“You didn't feel guilty enough to stop her from doing it though,” Clara said eventually and her voice was eerily calm. It wasn't a question. It was a statement. His heart sank into his boots when he realized that Clara had figured him out. “Now that I come to think about it, you didn't even seem surprised to hear that some of my dates failed because _you knew they would_.”

She stepped forward and jabbed his chest with her index finger. “You took advantage of it!”

“I swear, it wasn't like that!”

“Oh, so you didn't screw up my dates?! You didn't do it because you thought that if you couldn't have me, no one else could?! You didn't do it because you wanted to comfort me afterwards?! You didn't do it because you wanted to have a chance with me?!”

The Doctor opened his mouth and this time, he knew what he wanted to say, but Clara cut him off before he could reply.

“Nevermind! I don't even want to hear your excuses right now!” she shouted and before the Doctor knew what was happening, Clara made her way past him and towards the door.

“Clara, wait! At least let me explain!” he yelled and made an attempt to run after her, but once again, she was quicker than he was.

“Don't follow me!”

The door was slammed in his face and the Doctor watched her run down the street and disappear behind a corner through the shop window and he realized that any attempt to apologize would only fall on deaf ears right now. Clara needed time and the Doctor prayed that it wasn't too late to fix it. He couldn't lose her, not now, not after they had finally found each other. But before he made another attempt, he would do what he should have done months ago: the Doctor would give Missy a piece of his mind.


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your kind comments :) We're almost at the end of the story. The question is, will the Doctor and Clara continue to be idiots or will there be a happy end?

“I can't even leave you two alone for five minutes, can I?”

Clara glowered at her friend in response. She had hoped for Amy's sympathy and support, not for a lecture and she certainly didn't want to be made fun of.

“Seriously, you got together like ten minutes ago and now you've already broken up again. I think that's your new record.”

“We haven't broken up!” Clara argued defensively.

Amy raised her eyebrows at her in reply.

“I didn't break up with him,” she repeated firmly and then uttered a sigh. She didn't want to break up with the Doctor, but somehow, Clara felt like she couldn't let him get away with a betrayal like that without making it at least a little bit harder for him. “I just don't know what to do. I suspected that Missy was behind it, not that the Doctor knew. I'm just really, really mad.”

“Why?” Amy wanted to know.

“ _Why?!_ ” Clara gasped at her friend's question. She couldn't believe that she actually had to explain it to her when it was so obvious why she was fuming right now. “I trusted him with everything! He knows everything there is to know about me, I told him about every single date I went to, I told him how those men had treated me, how they had hurt me and now he tells me that he knew why that was, why I couldn't find anyone. For all I know, he sat next to Missy while she spread evil lies about me!”

“Okay, good point,” her friend replied with a shrug. “But you're not mad enough to end it, are you?”

Clara growled in response. A part of her wanted to end their new relationship just to teach him a lesson, but then she would have to be without the Doctor and she really didn't like the idea of that. If only he hadn't betrayed her trust.

“You do realize why he did it though, don't you?”

“What reason could there possibly be for them to ruin my dates?!”

“He loves you!” Amy almost shouted at her. “The Doctor has loved you for years, he was sad, he was desperate.”

Clara crossed her arms in front of her chest, still glowering at her friend. “Not a good enough reason to do what they did. He could've just told me about his feelings instead.”

“I'm just saying that we've all done stupid things for love,” her friend argued with a shrug. “And I don't think the Doctor did it to hurt you.”

“I know he didn't,” Clara replied in a stubborn manner. “But I'm allowed to pout for as long as I like.”

Her friend shot her a dark look. “Don't you think you two have wasted enough time already?”

“Not enough to make him stop being an idiot,” she muttered and sank back into the sofa cushions. No, the Doctor wouldn't get away with it so easily. If he wanted her back, he would have to grovel and he would have to be very good at it.

* * *

“Ow!” the Doctor yelped when Missy slapped him hard across the back of the head. “That really hurt!”

“Good!”

He rubbed the hurting area and decided that he had probably earned that even though he had expected the slap to come from Clara. There was no reason for Missy to be mad at him as well.

“When your girlfriend asks you whether you've done anything to hurt her, like spreading lies about her online to prevent her from dating other men, _you deny it_ , idiot!” Missy shouted at him. “You could have said a lot of things. _I have no idea what you're talking about, Clara, but I'll be sure to have a word with Missy._ That would have been reasonable. The truth is anything but reasonable. The truth gets you back to bachelorship!”

“I can't base our relationship on a lie!” the Doctor shouted in his defence. It was wrong, all of it. He had come here to shout at Missy for making him part of her game in the first place, not to be shouted at for something as simple and decent as telling the truth. Life really wasn't fair.

“You're really unbelievably stupid, aren't you?” she asked him sharply. “You could have blamed the entire thing on me and gotten away with it.”

“Well, to be fair, it was your idea and you did do it, so-”

“Exactly!” Missy yelled at him, rolling her eyes. “God, you're a hopeless case!”

“I'm a hopeless case because of you,” the Doctor growled. “This is entirely your fault.”

“Oh no,” she laughed in response and raised her hands in a surrendering gesture. “You can blame me for a lot of things, but not for the fact that you can't keep your mouth shut which is all you had to do, really.”

“Missy,” he hissed sharply, “I will not lie to Clara. Not anymore. I love her and if you knew anything about that, you'd understand.”

“That's all very well, but what are you gonna do about her now?” she asked him and the annoyance she felt was becoming audible in her voice.

The Doctor straightened his shoulders. “From now on, I'm gonna do the right thing. I'm gonna give her time to cool down and wait for her to come to me. She will when she's ready to talk and then I'm going to apologize sincerely and-”

“Bullshit,” Missy spat.

His eyes widened in an instant. He couldn't believe her audacity. “Excuse me?!”

“This is bullshit and you know it,” she replied. “You're just being a coward again!”

“I'm not-”

“Oh, shut up!” his friend barked at him and before the Doctor knew what was happening, Missy grabbed him by the wrist and gave his arm a tug that almost threw him off balance.  
As she made her way towards the front door, dragging him behind her, the Doctor realized he had no clue what the hell was happening and where they were going.

“Missy, let go!” he protested when they were already out of the door. “Stop!”

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull away from her grip as she dragged him along. What was she planning?

“I'm not gonna stop,” his friend insisted firmly. “I'm not gonna sit back and watch you lose that girl again! That is completely out of the question.”

A few seconds later, Missy had pulled him out onto the street and was rushing down the pavement as if a pack of wild dogs was behind her. Still, the Doctor didn't even have the slightest idea what she was up to.

“You and Clara are going to make up and then you're going to stay together because I am tired of listening to your whining!” she told him after they had turned around a corner. “You're going to talk to her and I'm going to make you!”

When the Doctor realized that he didn't stand a chance as soon as Missy had set her mind on something, he stopped resisting and her let drag him along. Maybe she was right once again. He needed to talk to Clara.


	44. Chapter 44

Clara was just about to open her mouth and answer Amy's question when the doorbell caught her off guard and she immediately forgot what she wanted to say. Frowning, she turned towards Amy.

“It's your flat,” her friend remarked. “I don't know who else you're expecting.”

“I'm not expecting anyone,” she replied as she rose to her feet and started to make her way towards the door when the bell rang again right next to her ear. “Ugh, I'm coming!”

When Clara tore the door open, she had expected the Doctor or a neighbour, she had even expected the space to be empty because some children were trying to prank her. Who she hadn't expected to see was the Doctor's oldest friend and current object of most of her anger. Missy.

“I have something for you,” the Scottish woman said before she reached out and pulled the Doctor into her field of vision. “I believe you two need to talk.”

The Doctor's eyes were fixed on his feet which she shuffled nervously and suddenly, Clara felt a new surge of anger coming up. They had some nerve showing up here together after probably plotting at ruining her dates as a team. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Who says I'm ready to talk after what you did,” she barked and shot a dark look in Missy's direction to let her know that she could tell who the real culprit was. “Right now I'm feeling more in the mood for murder!”

Yet the evening continued just as unexpected as it had started with Missy rolling her eyes in annoyance.

“He loves you, you love him, idiotic as he is. As far as I can tell, you two really deserve each other after not realizing it for five years,” Missy replied blatantly and shrugged. “I just did my part to help.”

“ _Help?!_ ” Clara spat at her in reply. “You spread lies about me, you told perfectly nice guys that I used to be a man, that I have children waiting for me at home, there is really nothing that could justify that!”

The voice that followed was small and very unlike him. “I'm sorry.”

When Clara looked back at the Doctor, he granted her an apologetic glance even though he struggled to meet her eyes. She could tell that he was deeply ashamed and sorry about what they had done.

“Will you at least listen to him?” Missy asked her impatiently. “You can still kick his arse later.”

Yet Clara didn't budge. She didn't want to make it easy for him after everything she had learned today.

“She's right, you know?” Amy's voice suddenly came from the back of the corridor and Clara turned around to look at her friend. A smile spread across her face. “You two are being complete idiots _again_. You love each other, so talk!”

Knowing that she was defeated, Clara rolled her eyes and turned towards the uncomfortable looking Doctor. The way he looked right now almost made her feel sorry for him.

“Alright. Follow me,” she said gruffly and marched off in the direction of her bedroom.

* * *

The Doctor didn't move at first because he had no idea what would happen if he stepped into a room where he would be alone with Clara. She was angry and rightly so and he had wanted to wait for her to cool down before saying everything he needed to say. Right now, this could end badly and he really didn't want to lose her forever. He couldn't lose her.

Reluctantly, he stepped into the bedroom, the one that was so familiar to him even though he had never shared it with Clara.

“Close the door. There's no need for your friend to listen to this,” she told him strictly and he did as she asked because he was afraid of what would happen if he disobeyed her right now.

As soon as their friends were locked out, a silence spread across the room and it was so eery that the Doctor could hear himself gulp. Clara glowered at him as she crossed her arms in front of her chest again. He had to say something and he had to say it now.

“I'm really sorry,” he apologized again. The Doctor didn't know what else to tell her. That was all that mattered.

“You said that already,” she replied coldly.

The Doctor inhaled sharply and let his shoulders sink. “What else do you want me to say?”

Clara shrugged. Oh God, she was going to break up with him, wasn't she? That short moment of happiness hadn't been enough. He would lose her again.

“Say whatever you came here to say.”

“Well, Missy kind of dragged me here,” he argued. “She slapped me.”

“Good,” Clara concluded. “You deserve that even though I should've been the one to do it.”

The Doctor dared a shy smile. “You can do it again if it makes you feel better,” he suggested.

She looked at him for a long moment and it seemed as if she was considering his offer, but eventually, Clara shook her head. “I'm not in the mood for that right now. I've had a long day, I'm tired, I just. . . I don't know, I want to punish you. What you did was wrong and really messed up.”

“I know,” he admitted. “And believe me, I didn't know anything about it at first. Missy only told me later and when she said that it was the only way for me to have a chance with you, it sort of made sense. I knew I was hurting you and I knew I had no right and I did it anyway because, honestly, I would sell my soul for a chance with you.”

To his surprise, Clara didn't cut him off. She only listened.

“The only thing I've ever wanted was for you to see me,” the Doctor confessed. “I've loved you for years and you looked at me, but you never saw me. Yes, I hurt you and I'm sorry about that, but every time you went out with another man, every time you looked at me and failed to see that I was right there, it hurt me just as much. I wanted it to stop. I just wanted to love you because I knew I would be better at it than any man you could possibly find on that app.”

The Doctor couldn't be sure, but for a moment, he thought there were tears in her eyes. Oh no, she was going to cry again. He was helpless when she did that.

“Please, Clara, I never did it to hurt you. I know it's not an excuse, but I'm begging you to forgive me because I don't want to lose you,” he said sincerely.

“I can see you,” she said, her reply almost a whisper as she looked at him. “And I see an idiot.”

The Doctor's heart sank into his boots. He had lost her, hadn't he?

“Actually, no. I see two idiots,” Clara added and to his surprise, she started to chuckle. “I'm sorry, too.”

“Uhm,” he paused, raising his eyebrows at her. “For what?”

Smiling, Clara stepped forward and once she had reached him, she raised her arms and placed them on his shoulders. “For making you wait,” she told him sincerely. “For not seeing you for so damn long when you were right in front of me the entire time. Thank you for waiting.”

The Doctor was about to open his mouth and say something even though he had no idea what he was supposed to say at this point when Clara suddenly went up on tiptoes and kissed him on the lips. He couldn't be entirely sure, but he hoped that it meant she had forgiven him. His heart skipped a beat when she pulled away and he noticed that she was still smiling.

“What do you say, shall we send them away?” Clara asked him.

Just to be sure, the Doctor decided to ask. “You're no longer mad?”

“Oh no, I am mad,” she insisted. “I'll probably be mad for a few more days, but I'll get over it.”

It was as if a weight was dropping off his shoulders when she said those words. The Doctor hadn't lost her after all and suddenly, he once again felt like the luckiest man on the planet.

“You can start thinking about how you're going to make it up to me and that better involve omelette for breakfast or I might reconsider,” she said teasingly and gave him a soft nudge.

The Doctor beamed at her in response. He had no idea what to say, no idea what to tell her because right now, he was so incredibly happy that all the words in the English language failed him. His heart was hammering in his chest when he realized that everything would be fine. So instead of saying anything, the Doctor bent down until their lips touched. There was nothing that could get between them. Not now. Not ever. They truly were two idiots who deserved each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop whoop! We made it to chapter 44! The Doctor and Clara are happy!
> 
> Thank you guys so, so, so much for staying tuned until the end despite the slow burn! Thank you for your kudos and all your lovely, lovely comments! Let me give you all a massive cyberhug! I'm glad you've enjoyed their journey and I hope to see you again for the next one :) Have a wonderful week!


End file.
